Post on 21-Dec-2015
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E-Books and EchidnasLooking Beyond the Spines
Andrew WellsUniversity Librarian
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Outline
• Personal reflections• E-books at UNSW – institutional context• Consortial activity in Australia
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E-books – what are they?
• More than digital versions of print books• Compare Harrison’s Online and
Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine• Different experience!• E-books part of spectrum of e-content
– Reference– Monographs– Journals– Textbooks
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E-book challenges
• How are they used?• Matching content to user needs• Delivery – reading, printing,
downloading• Access – who can use them?• Making content more useable• Buying them for the sake of buying
them
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Tipping points
• Journals may tip from print/online to online only in 5-10 years
• Conceivable for e-books?• How many years left for the era of the
‘hybrid library’
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Inhibitors
• Multiple delivery platforms• Licensing and purchasing models• Lack of current content
• These problems will be resolved … when?
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UNSW Library and e-books
• 75% of budget spent on e-content• 90% on research content• Content first; format second• No target for e-book acquisition• No strong demand for e-books• But strong demand for e-journals
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Enrolled students No textbooks purchased
No of readings purchased
Up to 50 2 2
Up to 100 3 3
Up to 200 4 4
Up to 300 5 4
Up to 400 6 4
Up to 500 7 4
Over 500 8 4
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Textbooks and course support• Quotas for library provision• Electronic reserve• Statutory licences in copyright law• Students satisfied with current provision
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Research
• Most acquisition for research• Well used• Research repository for UNSW research
-- UNSWorks
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Areas for improvement
• Intend buying more• Discovery services• Statistics for decision making• Delivery
– Readers?– Print on demand?
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Collaboration
• CEIRC = C= EIRC• C = Council of Australian University
Librarians• EIRC = Electronic Information
Resources Committee• CEIRC Program = consortium for
datasets purchasing
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CEIRC membership
• 39 CAUL member• 8 from New Zealand (CONZUL = Council
of New Zealand University Librarians)• >25 ‘external’ – government and
research libraries
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CEIRC activity
• 150 products• 10 vendors• Fees for staffing, meetings and travel• Member of ICOLC
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CEIRC success factors
• Opt in /opt out • Light governance• Flexibility – one size does not fit all
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CEIRC e-book survey
• 2007, 39 responses• 57 products identified• Textbooks a gap• Old stuff!• Some looking at pay per view or user
driven selection
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Market leaders
• These products used by >20 libraries• Wiley Interscience• NetLibrary• Elsevier• Safari• Gale Virtual Reference Library• Informit• James Bennett eTitle
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