E-BOOKS 2017:
WHAT’S THE CURRENT THINKING
ON THE STATUS OF E-BOOKS?
Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians
Presenter: Lynda Fuller Clendenning
May 22, 2017
Presenter profile
Lynda Fuller Clendenning
Head, Acquisitions Division
Associate Librarian
Acquisitions
OFFICE Herman B Wells Library E350
PHONE (812) 855-1673
EMAIL lfclende@indiana. edu
PROFILE:
https://libraries.indiana.edu/lyndaclendenning
The World is Flat
for Ebooks
Print Books
The Flammarion
engraving is a wood
engraving by an
unknown artist that
first appeared in
Camille Flammarion's
L'atmosphère:
météorologie populaire
(1888). The image
depicts a man crawling
under the edge of the
sky, depicted as if it
were a solid
hemisphere, to look at
the mysterious
Empyrean beyond. The
caption underneath
the engraving (not
shown here) translates
to "A medieval
missionary tells that
he has found the
point where heaven
and Earth meet..."
Ebooks
The Dilemma
(in the context of academic publishing)
 What is the ebook business model that works for
Library users’ research and classroom
needs?
Library collection budgets?
Academic publisher revenue streams?
Have E-books Peaked?
 Association of American Publishers Report
 First half of 2016 Ebook sales down 20% from 2015
 Ebook sales portion of book sales in 2016 same as 2011
 Audiobook sales doubled market share in same period
 Academic Book Vendor Report
 Ebook sales flat
 Print book sales slightly up (75% of A&H titles; 50% of STM titles are print sales)
 DDA:
Short term loan plummet from 2015
 Why:
 Users don’t want to pay
 Users read for free online, so why pay for an ebook?
Many players
OPEN ACCESS (OA)
Ebook Complexities
Format
.azw
(Kindle)
ePub
PDF
HTML
mobi
(mobile)
.
DRM
Prevents
copying
Controls
Printing
Date
stamps
and limits
number of
users
Software
Adobe
Digital
Editions
Calibre
(free)
Hardware
Desktop
Laptop
iPad
iPhone
ibooks
Kindle
Nook
Acquisitions models: Purchase options for libraries
 Publisher bundles
 Publisher programs
 Springer 2017 imprint – all titles on Springer
platform
 EBS (Evidence-based)
 Only other option: subject collection
 Elsevier 2017 imprint on SciDirect
 Wiley 2017 imprint on Wiley Online
 Aggregators (Ebsco and ProQuest)
 Direct
 Firm
 DDA/PDA
 Subscription
 Via library book vendors:
 Firm orders
 Eapproval
 DDA/PDA
Coutts and GOBI
 Publisher Aggregators
 Project Muse (UPCC University Press)
 JSTOR Ebooks
 Oxford (Oxford Scholarship Online)
Acquisitions Models: Demand Driven Acquisitions
 DDA not working as expected
 DDA:
Short term loans % of list price for each triggered use
 Revenue not sufficient:
Publishers responded
 Raised STL %
 Offered DDA only; buy on first use
 Embargoed front list by x months; x years
New Acquisitions Models – Trying to solve revenue issue
 Next model:
Evidence Based Services (EBS)
 Select group of titles for potential use
 Fund via deposit account or agreed upon amount
 Purchase triggered titles – perpetual access
 Elsevier EBS (one flavor):
 Choose subject collections
 One year of access for small up-front fee
 At end of one year, choose content to purchase based on detailed usage reports.
More Evidence Based Options
(The University of British Columbia)
 Cambridge – Evidence-based Acquisitions (EBA) For the upcoming period from
September 2015 through May 2016, Cambridge will give us access to 2015 and 2016
eBooks. Subject areas covered will focus on the humanities, social sciences, and science
& engineering. These will be available to use through Cambridge Books Online platform.
 CRC Press (Taylor & Francis) – Evidence-based Selection (EBS) CRC Press’ multi-year
model will offer access to all 2015 and 2016 published content in the areas of
engineering, environmental science, food science, materials, math and statistics from
September 2015 through April 2017, as it becomes available online through their designate
platform.
 Taylor & Francis Humanities & Social Sciences – Evidence-based Selection (EBS)
Complementing the titles available through the CRC Press EBS model, a multi-year model
for other Taylor & Francis imprints (including Routledge and Earthscan) will offer access to
all 2015 and 2016 published content from September 2015 through April 2017, as it
becomes available through their designate platform.
 Wiley – Usage-based Collection Management (UBCM) This model, through Wiley Online
Library, offers access to their entire OnlineBooks catalogue for the period of September
2015 though August 2016. Their collection focuses on areas in health and physical
sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. The Wiley model will be available through
the Wiley Online Library
Newest Acquisitions Model: Access to Own
 Newest model:
ATO Access to Own
 High first trigger price
 2nd pay remaining list price
More solutions…
 Open Access
 Knowledge Unlatched
 Publishers offering open access
 Authors paying to make their book open access
 Chapter level access DDA / STL models?
Critique: Ebook Functionality
 Inferior to Codex (Print book)
 Lack of Standards
 Too many formats; little interoperability
 Need “new” format for ebooks --- not a digital version of print book
 DRM (Digital Rights Management) -- see
Charlotte Initiative slide
 Barriers to use
 Need note, annotation, images, embedded media
 Discoverability and Navigation
 Need more internal links
A Critique with an Action Plan
http://charlotteinitiative.uncc.edu/
The Three Principles
Our starting premise is that permanent acquisitions of eBooks requires these licensing
terms:
Provision of irrevocable perpetual access and archival rights.
Allowance for unlimited simultaneous users.
Freedom from any Digital Rights Management (DRM), including (but not limited to)
use of proprietary formats, restricted access to content, or time-limited access terms.
Final thoughts
 The need for ebook format and access standards is crucial to the development of
ebook technologies that compare favorably with codex technology
 Should libraries continue to rent/subscribe for access to ebooks instead of purchase until standards
are developed?
 Standards will allow publishers and libraries to invest and commit to developing
born digital ebook products with media aspects embedded
 Should collection budgets be used to make scholarly monographs open access and
available to all?
 What are the ebook works that libraries should purchase and preserve? Which are
fine access only?
E-books are Evolving – We aren’t there yet!
Questions?
Comments?
Discussion?
Feel free to email questions
and comments.
References
 The Scholarly Kitchen
 Conrad, Lettie Y (2017, April 24). The Ebook R/Evolution – Not as Easy as It Seems [Web log post].
Retrieved from: https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2017/04/24/ebook-revolution-not-easy-seems/
 Schonfeld, Roger C. (2016, April 4). Will the Monograph Experience a Transition to E-Only? Latest
Findings. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from: https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/04/04/an-e-onlymonograph/
 No Shelf Required
 Roncevic, Mirela (2016, September 13). Academic Libraries are Shrinking, while Content is Growing.
How did we get there? [Web log post]. Retrieved from: http://www.noshelfrequired.com/academiclibraries-are-shrinking-while-content-is-growing-how-did-we-get-here/
 NSR Editorial (2016, November 16). Ebook Sales Continue to Decline in 2016. That’s Good News (For
those who Advocate Free Reading). [Web log post]. Retrieved from:
http://www.noshelfrequired.com/ebook-sales-continue-to-decline-in-2016-thats-very-good-news-for-thosewho-advocate-free-reading/
 Parker, David. (2016, April). Blurring Lines—The Chapter, Not the Book, as the Unit of
Discovery: An Interview with Laura Brown of JSTOR. Again the Grain, pp. 47- 48.