eBook Use Among a Group of Large Academic Libraries

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eBook Use Among a Group of Large Academic
Libraries

• Charleston Conference, Nov. 6, 2008
• Michael Levine-Clark, University of Denver
• Michael Zeoli, YBP Library Services

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What is Core?

• Can we define a core list of eBooks?
• Are there criteria that can be used to select a
  core list of eBooks?
• How might a core list of eBooks relate to a core
  list of print books?

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The Data Set

• Eight libraries
• US and Canada
• Subscribers to ebrarys Academic Complete
• Use data, April 2007 March 2008
• 40,541 titles
• YBP Core 1000
• July 2004- December 2006
• 2500 titles
• Sales

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The Libraries
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eBook use by Library
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eBook use by Library User Sessions per Patron
(Students Faculty)
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Top 500 User Sessions

• Number of titles in top 500 by user session, by
  number of institutions
• 8 institutions 2 (0.06)
• 7 institutions 5 (0.16)
• 6 institutions 12 (0.38)
• 5 institutions 22 (0.69)
• 4 institutions 41 (1.29)
• 3 institutions 113 (3.55)
• 2 institutions 390 (12.27)
• 1 institution 2594 (81.60)

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Titles in Top 500 at 3 Institutions

• 195 titles
• LC Breakdown
• H (n50) 25.64
• R (n37) 18.97
• Q (n35) 17.95
• B (n19) 9.74
• P (n12) 6.15

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Types of Material

• Narrative
• Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble (Routledge, 1999)
• Larson, Eric. Devil in the White City (Knopf,
  2004)
• Simo, J. C. Computational Inelasticity
  (Springer-Verlag, 1998)
• Practical
• Cameron, A Colin. Regression Analysis of Count
  Data (Cambridge, 1998)
• Kolby, Jeff. GRE Prep Course eBook (Nova, 2003)
• Pinson, Linda. Anatomy of a Business Plan
  (Dearborn, 2004)

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Types of Material, continued

• Textbook
• Carey, Francis. Advanced Organic Chemistry, Part
  A (Kluwer, 2000)
• McMahon, David. Linear Algebra Demystified
  (McGraw-Hill, 2005)

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Titles in Top 500 at 3 Institutions

• 195 titles
• Book Type
• Narrative (n98) 50.26
• Practical (n76) 38.97
• Textbook (n21) 10.77

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Titles in Top 500 at 3 Institutions

• 195 titles
• Type of Use Average per Title
• User Sessions 108.96
• Page Views 3,066.86
• Pages Copied 49.41
• Pages Printed 413.85

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Titles in Any Librarys Top 500

• 3,179 titles
• LC Breakdown
• H (n610) 19.19
• P (n374) 11.76
• Q (n338) 10.63
• R (n318) 10.00
• Unclassed (n270) 8.49

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Titles in Any Librarys Top 500

• 3,179 titles
• LC breakdown relative to titles in entire
  collection
• R (n318) 10.00 3.42
• P (n374) 11.76 3.31
• B (n246) 7.74 2.19
• D (n187) 5.88 1.93
• Q (n338) 10.63 1.70
• H (n610) 19.19 0.46
• Unclassed (n270) 8.49 -16.01

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Titles in Any Librarys Top 500

• 3,179 titles
• A closer look at a few LC Subclasses
• BF 27.31 of B 5.32
• HB-HJ 60.00 of H -8.97
• QA 55.62 of Q 9.92

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Titles in Any Librarys Top 500

• 3,179 titles
• Publication Date
• Pre-1979 (n8) 0.25
• 1980-1989 (n44) 1.38
• 1990-1999 (n538) 16.92
• 2000 (n333) 10.47
• 2001 (n378) 11.89
• 2002 (n385) 12.11
• 2003 (n366) 11.51
• 2004 (n474) 14.91
• 2005 (n383) 12.05
• 2006 (n250) 7.86
• 2007 (n20) 0.63

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Titles in Any Librarys Top 500

• 3,179 titles relative to
• Top Ten Publishers in entire list
• Routledge 264 (8.30) -0.40
• McGraw-Hill 241 (7.58) 2.60
• Cambridge UP 239 (7.52) 2.89
• Oxford UP 208 (6.54) 2.11
• U of California Press 157 (4.94) 3.24
• Palgrave 91(2.86) 0.10
• Kluwer 83 (2.61) 0.05
• Knopf 79 (2.49) 1.50
• Greenwood 78 (2.45) -0.17
• National Academies Press 71 (2.23) -4.01

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Titles Showing Any Use

• 28,395 titles
• LC Breakdown
• H (n5,838) 19.86
• Unclassed (n4,673) 16.46
• P (n2,904) 10.23
• R (n2,614) 9.21
• Q (n2,472) 8.71

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Titles Showing Any Use

• 28,395 titles
• LC breakdown relative to titles in entire
  collection
• R (n2,614) 9.21 2.63
• F (n871) 3.07 2.12
• P (n2,904) 10.23 1.78
• B (n1,969) 6.93 1.38
• H (n5,638) 19.86 1.13

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Usage Overlap Across Libraries (User Sessions)

• 8 Libraries 83 titles (72 in any top 500) 0.20
• 7 Libraries 210 titles (160) 0.52
• 6 Libraries 558 titles (312) 1.38
• 5 Libraries 1,285 titles (527) 3.17
• 4 Libraries 2,648 titles (677) 6.53
• 3 Libraries 5,090 titles (702) 12.56
• 2 Libraries 8,026 titles (504) 19.80
• 1 Library 10,495 titles (225) 25.89
• No use 12,146 titles 29.96

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Titles Used in Five or More Libraries

• 2136 titles
• LC Breakdown
• H (n453) 21.21
• P (n273) 12.78
• R (n263) 12.31
• Q (n255) 11.94
• B (n187) 8.75

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Titles Used in Five or More Libraries

• 2136 titles
• LC breakdown relative to titles in entire
  collection
• R (n263) 12.31 5.73
• P (n273) 12.78 4.33
• B (n187) 8.75 3.20
• Q (n255) 11.94 3.01
• H (n453) 22.45 2.48

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Usage Types

• 28,395 titles with at least one User Session
• 28,263 titles with at least one Page Viewed
• 7,517 titles with at least one Page Copied
• 6,763 titles with at least one Page Printed
• 12 titles in top 100 for all four categories
• 36 titles in top 100 for three categories
• None in top 10 for all four categories
• One in top 20 for all four categories

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Terra incognita How do patterns of usage help us
map the New World of eBooks?
Pat Van Zandt, The College of William
Mary Michael Zeoli, YBP
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ebrary use by subject

• History 21,984 pages viewed, 1,034 sessions
• Documentary history of the 1st federal congress
• Social Sciences 15,587 pv, 1884 us
• Afro-Latin America 1800-2000
• Political Science 12,672 pv, 696 us
• Of paradise and power America Europe in the
  new world order
• Business/Economics 11,700 pv, 559 us
• Sustainability revolution portrait of a paradigm
  shift
• Other areas of high use language arts, medicine,
  religion, education, philosophy

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ebrary use / print circulation comparison
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ebrary use / YBP print comparison

• WM ebrary Top 10 vs. YBP Top 10
• 3 Titles in common (2 Knopf)
• Major Trade Reviews
• All but 1 YBP Top 15
• Few of WM ebrary Top 100
• Sales
• YBP TOP 3 sold more than 200 copies
• WM ebrary Top 3 sold fewer than 100

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The Libraries Print Expenditures with YBP
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The Top 195 ebrary titles

• 3 Basic Essential
• 1 Research Essential
• 8 Basic Recommended
• 11 Research Recommended
• 4 Highly Specialized
• 9 Supplementary Material
• 159 No Definition

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The Top 195 ebrary titles

• 26 Not available as ebooks in YBP database
• 23 Others Not Profiled
• 81 Advanced Academic , BUT
• 28 Health Sciences
• 20 McGraw-Hill Medical Test Guides
• 44 Textbooks, Exam or other Guidebooks
• 39 General Academic
• 7 Popular Level
• 9 Professional Level

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YBP Core 1000
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3179 Top 500 ebrary JUST 18 in YBP Core
2004-2006
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135 User Sessions
2138 PageViews
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Shame of the Nation
41 User Sessions
972 Page Views
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The Top 195 ebrary titles

• Discouraging Print Data,
• BUT ebook use is impressive
• Average User Sessions 109
• Average Page Views 3067

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• To earn a kings ransom dont waste too much
  effort trying to distinguish between high quality
  works and shitty pulp. Make all books available
  in your shop without discriminating between good
  and bad, because in fact, it is often the most
  vulgar, those written by the idiots, by imbeciles
  and cretins, that sell best.

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The Future is Apocalyptic.
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What is the future of the (e)book vendor?or How
will we collect eBooks?

• eBook packages direct from publishers?
• Will eBooks behave like ejournals?
• MARC records?
• Narrower focus for vendor?
• eBooks as part of the approval plan?
• e as a format (cloth, paper, electronic) or is
  this even the right question?
• eBooks as subscriptions?
• Pay as you go?

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Thank You

• Michael Levine-Clark
• Collections Librarian
• University of Denver
• michael.levine-clark_at_du.edu
• Michael Zeoli
• Director of Sales, Canada
• YBP Library Services
• mzeoli_at_ybp.com