Evaluating & assessing ebooks: the academic library

perspective

Canadian Library Association, May 29, 2013Pamela Jacobs, University of Guelph

pjacobs@uoguelph.ca@pamelajacobs

https://twitter.com/serialsolutions/status/186911288247586816/photo/1

Why ebooks?

• Declining use of print books• Increased pressure for user space • Popularity of online content

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• 55% of books published since 1990 have never circulated

• 10.7% of the books in circulation on a given day were checked out to undergraduate students (34% to graduate students, 23.6% to faculty)

http://staffweb.library.cornell.edu/system/files/CollectionUsageTF_ReportFinal11-22-10.pdf

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http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2011/2011-06.pdf

“80% of the circulation is driven by just 6% of the collection”

How do we measure use of a book?

© Kristen M.

Standardized Usage Reports• COUNTER Book Report 2: Number of

Successful Section Requests by Month and Title

• Multiple platforms

…or not?

Karin Bystrom, 2012. Everything that’s wrong with e-book statistics. Poster session, Charleston Conference.

Turnaways• COUNTER Book Report 3: Turnaways by month

and title• Level of access will affect level of use

Comparing to print

• Apples and oranges

• But…– Newer stuff gets more use– Course-related materials get more use– 80/20 ish rule still applies

Cost and Cost/Use

• As compared to print• Packages vs. individual titles• Aggregators vs. publishers• Patron and demand-driven models• Subscription vs. purchase vs. lending models• Workflow costs

Evaluating Patron Driven models – Royal Holloway, University of London

• EBL – purchase and short term loan model• ₤10,000 available

– 37 titles purchased = ₤270/title

– 900 titles purchased or loaned = ₤11.11/title

– 1500 titles viewed = ₤6.50/title

http://ebookchallenge.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/patron-driven_e-books_RHUL_Anna_Grigson_Sept2012.pdf

ARL LibVALUE ebook study

• Low cost/title 2012 $19.29• Low cost/use* 2012 $1.38

• Elsevier user survey– 24/7 access– Easy to search and navigate– Download to laptop

http://www.libqual.org/documents/LibQual/publications/2013/libvalue-assessing-the-value-of-ebooks.pdf

Complicating Factors

• User experience– Platform issues/preferences– Problem of defining exactly what is an e-book– Textbooks vs. reference vs. scholarly monographs– Course readings and e-reserves

• Discoverability– MARC records availability and quality– Semantic linking– Library catalogue as main access point

Thank you for listening…

…questions?

pjacobs@uoguelph.ca