Jill Taylor-Roe, Newcastle University Library

Jill.Taylor-Roe@ncl.ac.uk

9th November, 2005

Acquiring E-book Content: An Academic Perspective

A modern Grail Quest: Acquiring the desired e-book content…

What are the drivers for an academic library? Student Numbers Course Structure CPD Courses Distance Learning International Students Pressure on Physical Resources Failure of physical resources to meet all core

demands

Student Numbers

Historical Studies, English Lit – between 150-350 students per module

Medicine – 945 students on clinical placements

Business Studies – between 300-350 students per module

Course Structure

Seminars – high demand – short timescale Clinical Placements – working in hospitals on

shifts PGCE – working in schools Multidisciplinary Courses – same resources

needed by students on different programmes Key texts – used by UGs and taught PGs

Growth of CPD

MEd – research degree for practicing teachers

Courses for Clinicians and Health workers MBAs/ Diplomas in Management MA Creative Writing MA Local History

Distance Learning

MScBiodiversity and Ecotourism – joint programme with Thai University

PhD Educational Psychology – students based in South Yorks and Scotland

MSc Oncology and Palliative Care – clinicians based in hospitals around the Northern Region

MSc Pipeline Structure – students based on oil rigs in the North Sea

International Students

High Fees Increased Expectations Educational and Cultural Differences

Pressure on physical resources Heavy Use by 300 plus Students takes its toll !

Print Alone is not the answer

Multiple Copy provision – 1:15, 1:10 Different Loan Periods – hours, days, weeks, Reference Only Not what users want!

Are E-books the answer to our prayers?

The Start of the Quest :Initial Experience Not much available! Reference Books Encyclopedias

Early Adventures…

ORO Wiley Encyclopedias Encyclopedia of Life Sciences Rudinet

More recent acquisitions… T&F Ebooks Books@ Ovid Kumar & Clark – Clinical Medicine European Retail Handbook KNOVEL EEBO ECCO

What we really, really want…

More textbooks! Current wishlist runs to several hundred More interactive books – with data, images

MCQs, questionnaires etc Multi User licences Reliable usage data!

What exactly are we measuring? Sessions Page views Hits Prints Downloads Title Visits Secure Chapters viewed

What does it tell us? E-Book usage 2005; top 20 by printed pages

As yet there are no clear KPI’s for e-books. Costs per printed page might be one. The ratio of Print Quota (maybe 5% of total book) to pages printed is one indicator of popularity.

Title Print Quota Pages Printed

Climate, History and the Modern World

22 22

Hydrology of the UK, The 16 16

Oral History Reader, The 24 15

Introduction to Vygotsky, 15 15

Housing Policy in Europe 18 15

Urban Planning in Europe 15 15

Alcohol and Heart Disease 14 14

Reformation World, The 29 14

Museums, Society, Inequality 14 14

Total downloads may include; Copy (& Paste?), Save to Disk, as well as Printed Pages – depends on the licence.

Importance of COUNTER!

There is as yet no generally agreed standard for e-book usage reports.

Consequently each publisher has a different format:

Impossible therefore to draw any meaningful benchmarking comparisons.

Where next?

More work with publishers Experiment with pricing models Importance of JISC E-Books Group Agree COUNTER code for stats reports Compare usage of print and e versions User studies – what do they prefer and how

are they using the books?

Will we get there? …Yes – provided that…Publishers are willing to experiment with

content and pricing models

Efforts are made to standardise usage data

We listen to our customers – who are ultimately the people who will determine whether ebooks are a long term success.

“So aftir the quest of the sankgreall was fulfilled… was there grete joy in the courte” (Malory: Morte d’Arthur)