Library eBook Use
Primary Research Group has published Library Use of E-books, 2008-09
Edition, (ISBN1-57440-101-7; $75.00). Data in the report are based on a
survey of 75 academic, public and special libraries. Librarians detail
their plans on how they plan to develop their e-book collections, what
they think of e-book readers and software, and which e-book aggregators
and publishers appeal to them most and why. Other issues covered
include: library production of e-books and collection digitization,
e-book collection information literacy efforts, use of e-books in course
reserves and inter-library loan, e-book pricing and inflation issues,
acquisition sources and strategies for e-books and other issues of
concern to libraries and book publishers.
Some of the findings of the 110 page report are:
Libraries in the sample expected to renew over 77% of their current
contracts.
Well over 81% of the sample cataloged their e-book collection and listed
it in their online library catalog.
E-book spending by libraries is growing rapidly in 2008 but by
significantly less than in 2007
For the most part, librarians in the sample felt that their patrons were
less skilled in using e-book collections than they were in using
databases of magazine, newspaper and journal articles.
The libraries in the sample had MARC records for a mean of approximately
74% of the e-books in their collections.
Many libraries reported significant use of electronic directories. 12.5%
reported extensive use and 30% said that use was significant. The larger
libraries reported the heaviest use.
Use of e-books in the hard sciences was particularly high. More than 30%
of participants said that use of e-books in the hard sciences (defined
as chemistry, physics and biology) was quite extensive and another 26%
noted significant use.
Libraries in the sample maintained a print version for a mean of 24% of
the e-books in their e-book collections.
Nearly 21% of the libraries in our sample have digitized
out-of-copyright books in their collections in order to make their
contents more available to their patrons.
E-books account for only about 3.9% of the books on course reserve, with
a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 30%.
Nearly 70% of the sample total spending on e-books was with aggregators,
while just over 24.6% of the total spending was spent with individual
publishers.
Data are broken out by library budget size, for US and non-US libraries
and for academic and non-academic libraries. The report presents more
than 300 tables of data on e-book use by libraries, as well as analysis
and commentary. [JH]
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