1 Digital Books for Digital Libraries Issues surrounding the collection management of e-books Ray Lonsdale & Chris Armstrong

2 Introduction Structure of workshop  Define an e-book  Demonstrate types of e-books  Group work Value and constraints of e-books Management and use issues  Feedback and general discussion

3 What is an e-book? Does it depend on:  Its origin  How it is distributed For some, e-books mean the hardware  Its format  How it is read  Semantics When is an e-book a database?

4 What is an e-book? “Any piece of electronic text regardless of size or composition (a digital object), but excluding journal publications, made available electronically or optically for any device (handheld or desk-bound) that includes a screen.” Armstrong, Edwards & Lonsdale, 2002 But a public library view might include the need for lending – thus physical portability

5 Types of e-books Free e-books  Aesop’s Fables from Gutenberg   International Children’s Digital Library   Shakespeare (MIT)   Jane Austin (Online-Literature) 

6 Types of e-books Academic monographs  City of Bits  The Two Cities

7 Types of e-books Reference books  Oxford Textbooks  Spartacus Study Guides  NetLibrary

8 Group work  Working in groups, discuss the following issues surrounding the management and use of e- books.  You will have 30 minutes for discussion.  Choose a representative who will speak on behalf of your group in the general discussion session at the end.  We shall lead this general discussion and your representative should take notes and be prepared to respond to each issue as we introduce them.

9 E-Books in use  Advantages  Disadvantages

10 Issues to discuss  Management implications for library Discovering the existence of e-books Selection policy Acquisition Licensing Facilitating access within the library/institution/authority Hardware and/or networking to accommodate e-books Evaluating use Promotion in the institution Archiving Other  Use Teaching and learning/curriculum Reference use Recreational use Need for research into usage

11 E-Books in use  Advantages Space Updating Security Remote access Concurrent access Added value features Portability Integration into VLEs Tailoring texts Other  Disadvantages Hardware / software Printing and copying Physical use Interface problems Management issues Availability of texts Authentication Information Literacy Technophobia Other

12 Issues: Management  Discovering the existence of e-book titles Bibliographic control – lack of (for both free and commercial e-books) Need for legal deposit / national bibliography Need for bibliographic map  Publishers’ advertising  Library press  Discussion/mailing lists  Publishers’ catalogues  Staff recommendations  Other library Web sites  Publisher web sites  Conferences/Exhibitions  Internet/colleagues  Serendipity  Subject lists  Journals

13 Issues: Management  Selection policy Need for policy / revision of policy Need for set of criteria: appropriateness of resource for user group(s) as well as quality issues Comparison of formats (to buy in paper or electronic form) Training of staff

14 Issues: Management  Acquisition Need for approvals / publisher trials Passwords, etc Incorporation in library management systems Cataloguing issues

15 Issues: Management  Licensing User groups (in library / in institution / remote / distance learners / professional users) Number of concurrent users Part-book access Printing/ e-copying / copying to laptops Charging mechanisms Charging models Consortia / National or regional licences

16 Issues: Management  Facilitating access OPAC (ability to link from Cataloguing) Web site Lending / use of portable readers / loan of readers Intellectual Property Management: encryption of texts may mean that a book may have to remain on the workstation/reader on which it was downloaded

17 Issues: Management  Hardware and/or Networking Intranet / LAN Broadband Workstation positioning Disenfranchised users

18 Issues: Management  Evaluating use Use of publisher’s statistics – whose responsibility? Library management systems (adequacy) Qualitative evaluation?

19 Issues: Management  Promotion in the institution Attitudes to using e-books Methods for promotion Information Literacy  Implications for different types of library Role of publishers

20 Issues: Management  Archiving Is there a need?  If you never ‘acquire’ but only licence Role of publisher Does the licence allow archiving Long-term archiving – coping with hardware/software obsolescence

21 Issues: Management  Other Links with publishers to develop a critical mass Need for national initiatives Collection Development Policy for e- resources embracing e-books Special needs / disability access

22 Issues: Use  Teaching and learning / Curriculum  Reference use  Recreational use  Need for research into usage of e-books

23 Issues: Use  Teaching and learning / Curriculum Appropriateness of format for teaching methods used Working with academic staff Availability of relevant materials (subject, language) or does availability drive the curriculum Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)  Inclusion of commercial / in-house e-books Licence dictates what you can do

24 Issues: Use  Reference use Search functionality Other functionality Ability to cut-and-paste with citation available New skills for ILS staff?

25 Issues: Use  Recreational use Range of e-books made available  e.g. General fiction Use of portable readers for loan vs. ‘online bookshelf’

26 Issues: Use  Need for research into usage of e-books In academic, public, school libraries, etc. Attitudes Usage patterns Impact on learning, teaching and reading

27 Digital Books for Digital Libraries Issues surrounding the collection management of e-books