Demand for EBooks in an Academic Library

1
Demand for E-Books in an Academic Library

• Ellen Safley
• University of Texas at Dallas
• April 2006

2
Quick Survey

• How many of you have used an electronic book?
• How many have used a non-fiction electronic book?
• How many read the same book in print?
• Would your children have the same answers?

3
Overview

• Brief history of electronic books
• Types of e-book models
• Usage
• Trends and impact on distance learning

4
Brief History

• ASCII text online
• Project Gutenberg
• Handheld devicesRocket readers
• The late 1990s
• Web-based electronic collections
• By collection, by subscription, by title

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Portable Readers

• Add a chip for content
• OR a self-contained reader
• Purchased not downloaded
• Reading onlineback lighting was not great
• Device was portable

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The Internet

• Each page looks like the actual printed book
• Bibliographic records available for
  titlesloading and quality issues
• More titles available
• Have to use a computer
• Later a PDA

7
Complaints

• Not as portable
• Hard to readwho reads a book on a device?
• Archival issues dealing with collection
  development

8
Usage Studies

• Mostly analyze NetLibrary collections purchased
  through consortiums or by the library
• Lack of rigorous statistics except by subject or
  title
• Libraries showed growing demand for electronic
  books
• More study needed

9
Other Issues

• Cites indicate demise of sequential reading
• Sloppy scholarship
• E-books show success in delivering reference
  titles
• Reading devices and electronic ink
• Still developing a portable device

10
New Technology

• Microencapsulate electrophoretic displays, aka
  electronic-ink screens
• Uses millions of white and black capsules
  floating in liquid.
• Capsules can be arranged using electric charges
  that are flipped as the learner needs to turn a
  page

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Readers (continued)

• 2006-2007
• Four more companies bringing readers to market
• iRex Technologies (Philips Electronics)
• Jinke (China)
• Polymer Vision (Philips spin-off)
• Plastic Logic (UK)
• Will use a USB port to add titles from a
  computerany PDF file

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Thousands of E-Books

• Finding the Models

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Experimenting with Electronic Books

• Wanted to try as many models of electronic books
  as possible to determine which features could be
  useful for research
• Determine if different subjects were more
  conducive to the transition to e-book models

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The Environment
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University of Texas at Dallas

• Started as a research institution and became a
  part of The University of Texas System in 1969.
• Until 1975, UTD only offered graduate degrees.
  The university admitted its first freshman class
  of 100 students in 1990.
• Doctoral/Research UniversityIntensive
• 14,500 students
• 30 doctoral programs
• 40,000 alumni
• Added millionth volume in September 2004

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UT-Dallas by School
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Picking the Models

• Consortial Deals
• Subscription Based
• Individual Purchases
• Current
• Historic

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NetLibrary

• Consortial purchase with other UT System
  components
• Selected by a variety of bibliographers

• NetLibrary complaints
• Passwords
• One user
• One page printing
• Limited cutting and pasting

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ebrary

• Subscription model
• No selection needed
• More generous printing, etc.
• No passwords

• Supplied bibliographic records have issues
• Pass off journal issues as e-books

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Safari Tech Books

• Excellent match for a technical school
• Search within books
• Subscription or slot models

• Two methods
• Select slots OR
• Purchase current and backfile
• Issues for cataloging

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History E-Book Project

• Selected by experts
• Classics in field
• Easy navigation

• Cataloged each record
• Attached online info to print record
• Not a huge collection1000 titles

22
EBL

• Hand picked
• Good statistical package
• You buy records from OCLCgood ones!
• Reserve module

• Service fee
• 325 uses each year. When you reach the limit,
  you need another copy

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Historic

• A new library would never have these collections
• No preservation issues
• If collection is from a microform master, NO
  color
• Can often download or print entire item

• Buyer bewaresometimes you supply the development
  money with your purchasenot all available
• Record issues
• Included in the purchase?
• Quality

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The E-Book Collection
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The Essentials

• Always do a trial
• Cataloging is essential for use
• Using the collection search engine is great, but
  knowing the individual titles is required
• Check out if records are available and try to
  broker them as part of the dealthen beware. All
  records are not equal
• Loading programs are essential for getting print
  with online titles togetherwe want the two
  formats on the same record
• Check out the statistical packages

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Usage
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Usage

• Began to look at the usage data in 2002 in
  support of distance learning
• Cannot distinguish between distance and campus
  learners
• Literature was indicating little acceptance and
  minimal use of electronic books
• Always try to look at the documents viewed rather
  than sessions or searches

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E-Book Usage

• Measuring
• Sessions
• Time
• Pages viewed, pages printed
• Views
• Full-text
• Accesses
• Etc., etc., etc.,

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NetLibrary Usage, 2004-2006

• Statistics vs. Librarian reactions
• Over 22,000 uses per year on 37,000 titles.
• Reactions to NetLibrary by staff are fairly
  negative as they do the troubleshooting for
  passwords, proxy problems, printing issues, and
  readability concerns.

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NetLibrary Usage, 1999-2005
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129 increase
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Ebrary Usage, July 2004-March 2006
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88
96
95
93
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Comparing ebrary and NetLibraryStrengths and
Weaknesses

• ebrary
• Social Sciences 36
• Science 7
• Management 30
• Arts/Humanities 11
• Brain 2
• Education 1
• Engineering 11
• Other 2

• NetLibrary
• Social Sciences 23
• Sciences 14
• Management 9
• Arts/Humanities 17
• Brain 6
• Education 1
• Engineering 25
• Other 5

Each collection has strengths and weaknesses.
Social Sciences and Management usage is strongest
on ebrary. Engineering/computer science and
Arts/Humanities usage is strongest on NetLibrary
37
Safari Tech Books Usage on 300 books 2004-March
2006
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Safari Tech Books, 2004-2006 Session Time
Increased 28 in 2005 From 7.45 to 9.54 minutes
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Use of Reference Electronic Books

• Oxford English Dictionary
• 6.6 minutes per session
• Time is decreasing (20047.56 minutes, 20055.15
  minutes)
• 3.7 pages per session
• Use declined 9 in 2005
• Oxford Reference Online
• 7 minutes per session
• Time is decreasing (20047.27 minutes,
  20056.91minutes)
• 11 pages per session
• Use increased 155 in 2005

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Reference E-Books Usage 2004-2005
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Time Online Varies with Type of E-Book

• Reference E-Books
• Increasing in popularity
• Time online is declining
• Non-Reference E-Books
• Increasing in popularity
• Time online is increasing

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Historic Titles Use of Eighteenth Century
Collection 2004-2005
1791 increase
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Early English Books Online, 2004-2005
417 increase in Document/Page Image Views in
2005 Sessions increased 70 in 2005 CATALOGINGUSA
GE
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Circulation of Print

• Impossible to compare use of e-books with print
• How did they use each format?
• Did they open the book? Checkouts do not always
  equate to use
• How long are students using each e-book?
• Reading vs. Factual Information
• But we know the rate is increasinghow?

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What We Know

• We are purchasing over 15,000 new print books per
  year.
• Print circulation is declining despite new items
  and an increasing enrollment of 3-4 each year.

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Circulation of Items from the Stacks, 2002-August
2005
19 decline in 2 years
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Online vs. Print Use

• Total online use of e-books (by document) was 29
  of print in 2004.
• Total online use of e-books (by document) was 58
  of print in 2005.
• Both collections were growing.

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Impact on Distance Learning

• Now providing true deliverables for customers
  needing monographs.
• Usage is exploding--Similar to the e-journal
  usage 5 years ago.
• Most collections of e-books are searchable within
  the collection and within the volume. Very handy!
• Are most students now distance learners? They
  are at UT-Dallas. Gate counts ?8/yr

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Improvements in Usage Stats

• Must demand change in statistical reporting
  (COUNTER is working on this). What are we
  measuring?
• Need additional information as to preferences for
  different models and function.

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Questions?

• safley_at_utdallas.edu