Post on 30-Dec-2015
description
“eBook Loans – an e-twist on a classic interlending service”
Bronwen Woods & Michael Ireland, NRC-CISTI
Presented by Michael Ireland to
The 10th Interlending and Document Supply Conference,
Singapore, October 30, 2007
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
eBook Loan Service project from the CISTI perspective:
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
About CISTI
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
Books at the beginning
Wild times in lending history …
King Ptolemy III of Egypt ‘borrows’ books for the Library of Alexandria
Electronic books
Why eBook Loans?
Current scholarly book access models are limited:
Purchase books or eBook License eBook collections Interlibrary loan
eBook loans are more accessible and economic:
Cheaper than purchase or licensing eBooks More efficient than print interlibrary loans
Current state of
print book loans
End user-initiated orders
End user delivery
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
Project Goals
Catalogue & Metadata
Myilibrary/Coutts E-commerce
server (content)
Renew another 4 wks?
Email Notification
Does client wish to buy
book?
Coutts and CISTI Help Desks
respond to client queries
Payment Server/Authorization
Mil Order Form (Name, IP, payer email & delivery
email, contact info, CC info)
CC Invoice to Client (currency?)
Coutts Server (cobranded) & Shopping Cart
Is client NRC?
Notification to CISTI staff
Coutts Metadata populates CISTI OpenURL order
form
CISTI library staff pay with CC for
NRC
Order Status (Coutts E-
commerce server website)Appropriate copy?
(Parking lot issue for CISTI)
Publisher Metadata
Coutts MARC
Records
E-book delivered to client (loan of 4 wks incl. Up to 10
pp of prints)Client
Transaction/Order finished - CISTI notified and paid
E-Book Purchase
from Coutts E-Commerce
Server
E-Book Loan Process Flow (Coutts Milibrary and CISTI Catalogue) - Jan. 23, 2006
Publisher E-Book
Content
E-Book content on
Coutts Server
Challenges of the eBook Loan Project
Solve the problem of how to loan e-books to external clients
Barriers faced = restrictive e-book licences and publisher locks prevent affordable access for temporary needs
Partnership to achieve a common goal
CISTI out-of-the-box solution to the achieve project goals by forming a collaborative partnership with an e-book aggregator, MyiLibrary.
MIL had the rights to disseminate e-books through publisher agreement and could obtain ILL rights and wanted to increase its reach.
Collaborative project management across the
world
The project management process was unprecedented for CISTI because it was partnering with a commercial
entity located on another continent.
Project Risks
Main risks and complexities associated with the project from the CISTI perspective were:
The co-development of a new library service model with an external, commercial partner
The geographical and organizational distances between the two parties
The loading of the publisher metadata onto the CISTI Catalogue platform
Client acceptance of the new business model
Internal service procurement issues
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
Critical tasks
In August 2006, a joint project team was assembled at CISTI and MyiLibrary to produce a new service model for lending e-books.
To embark on this joint venture, two tasks critical to project success were completed:
A client survey (summer 2006 )• 59% of respondents said “yes” they were interested in this service,
sight unseen
An agreement was signed between CISTI and MyiLibrary to implement the new service and share in the investment
Division of responsibility
MyiLibrary was responsible for: Negotiating with the publishers to
offer this loan service Making necessary changes to their
system Providing the publisher e-book
metadata Marketing and client support
(shared with CISTI)
CISTI was responsible for: Technology architecture planning
and business analysis Metadata loading and management Website interface design input and
translation Marketing and client support
(shared with MyiLibrary)
Workflow
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
Lessons learned: Communications
Problem: At times, the distances and preoccupations with other tasks resulted in slow communications and delays.
Mitigation strategy: The project steering committee, which included executives from both organizations provided support on decisions to allow the project to move forward.
Learned: Timely communications led to the resolution of key project road-blocks.
Lessons learned:Loading problems
Problem: Some diacritics and table of contents publisher metadata provided by MyiLibrary was of poor quality – delaying Catalogue record loading.
Mitigation strategy: MyiLibrary pinpointed the problem as occurring in the source metadata records. Some data was corrected on the spot with more corrections promised in future loads.
Learned: Given the relatively small number (6%) of records involved affecting findability and with the promise of future metadata updates, the project team decided to accept the status quo and move ahead with project launch.
Lessons learned: Getting Publisher
sign-onProblem: Delays in signing publishers created complications because the publisher e-book records could not be displayed and offered to clients until the publisher had signed.
Mitigation strategy: CISTI loaded all of the records but had to keep unsigned publisher records “suppressed” from public view if they were not signed.
Learned: Because of the hard work of the negotiators, MyiLibrary signed on some of the world’s largest e-book publishers Springer, Elsevier and Taylor and Francis before the official launch.
Lessons learned: Authorizing users
Problem: CISTI and MyiLibrary had a disagreement over authorizing end-users accessing the eBooks. MyiLibrary wanted to create an additional end user password login. CISTI preferred not, wishing to put the emphasis on client usability and the minimization of barriers. MyiLibrary had a legitimate business concern about unauthorized use and also wanted to offer additional features to end-users - only possible if they had their own password.
Mitigation strategy: At the end, an agreement was reached on having no additional login with an understanding to re-visit the issue if there was proven abuse. Currently all eBook loans expire after four weeks and terms & conditions state they are for personal use only.
Lessons: Partnership is about collaboration and compromise.
Best practices
Creating use cases at the outset of the project
Maintaining a shared project task list
Keeping an issues log
Incorporating client feedback for future updates
Findings
The project was a success because:
Produced a new eBook loan service where all the stakeholders (CISTI, MyiLibrary, publishers, clients, users) reached a common goal to improve e-book accessibility.
CISTI, as a public sector organization, and MyiLibrary, as a commercial enterprise, shared a vision and carried it through to a successful conclusion.
A project conducted “virtually” over two continents succeeded in its goals and was completed on time.
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
Value Proposition for users
eBook Loan Service allows the user to:
Find and obtain relevant scientific, technical, medical, business and social science eBooks from major e-book publishers
No mailing wait, download immediately from email link to web browser interface
Search and read eBook on line for 30 days
Copy, paste and print a certain number of pages
Value Propositions for libraries
eBook loans allow libraries to …
Have immediate access Avoid mailing wait / no unfilledBorrow unlimited books Reduce loan processing costsRenew loansForward eBooks to end users wherever they areAvoid recalls / late returns / lost booksNo annual eBook license or subscription required
Advantage eBook Loans
NRC employees
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
Conclusions
The eBook Loan Service project and the implementation of the service break the barriers of time, distance and cost.
CISTI took a practical approach to increasing access to e-books through a collaboration with an aggregator and publishers.
Fair use / dealing issues for e-books are not resolved by this service. The primary goal is to improve client access to e-books beyond the existing licensing and purchase models available.
Next Steps
Promote the service world-wide
Facilitate other forms of payment beyond credit cards, working with other organizations such as OCLC
Expand the service to include more publishers and other providers world-wide to ensure that users have the fullest range of choice
Look for other opportunities to partner to achieve our goals
The CISTI eBook Loan Project Overview
From opportunity to launch
Why eBook Loans Project goals, challenges, risks Project tasks and workflow Project lessons learned, best practices and findings Benefits to users and libraries Conclusions & Next steps How it works
Open Shopping Cart & Payment Server
Select an eBook and put in shopping cart
View Shopping Cart
Enter Payment Details
Send Email to enduser
Email to Payer
Email to enduser
Et Voila! eBook Loan display & features
Take away thought
“What technology often does is help us re-invent situations which have already existed but are now ready for modernisation
or moderation”
Graham Cornish, 2002
Questions?
Thank you
Bronwen Woods
Phone 613-990-9140
Fax: 613-952-8239
bronwen.woods@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Michael Ireland
Phone 613-991-9988
Fax:613-993-0747
michael.ireland@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
NRC-Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI)