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Transcript of Electronic books at Aston University Amanda Poulton Information Specialist (Engineering and Life...
Electronic books at Aston University
Amanda PoultonInformation Specialist
(Engineering and Life Sciences)
Frances HallInformation Specialist
(Engineering and Applied Science)
Library and Information Services
Overview• Background to Aston• Why electronic books? • Paid electronic books
– netLibrary– CRC Press– Wiley encyclopedias
• Free electronic books • Promotion• Reactions and concerns• Possible future developments
Background to Aston
• Approximately 6,000 students• Four main subject areas
– Life and health sciences– Engineering and applied science– Business– Languages
• Library already takes a number of electronic journal services (e.g. Science Direct, IEEE)
Aston LIS budgets
• Library and Information Resources budget divided between four schools, then between individual subject areas
• Budgets devolved to subject areas
• Engineering and Applied Science also have a Development Fund (£10,000)
E-book provision
• netLibrary (since Sept 2001)– 169 computer science and IT books
• CRC Press handbooks (since June 2002)– ENGnetBASE (178), CHEMnetBASE (8),
ENVIROnetBASE (115), MATHnetBASE (52), STATSnetBASE (40), FOODnetBASE (62)
• Three Wiley chemistry encyclopedias (since June 2002)
Why e-books?
• Began with Computer Science • Student numbers and growth
– problems with access to resources
• CS students not habitual library users– Giving them quality information over their
preferred medium – the Internet– Suited to their patterns of usage –
information continually available
Why e-books?
• Attractive deals available (Wiley as a JISC deal, CRC Press as a CHEST deal)
• Alternative to print reference collection, which wasn’t being heavily used
• Covered wide range of subjects – suitable for whole Engineering school
Other advantages
• Book collections fully searchable• No danger of theft or vandalism, or
wear and tear• No physical processing costs• 24/7 access, most available off-
campus• Speed of supply compared to printed
stock
netLibrary• Large book budget available in Computer
Science• Approval from head of subject and library
representative• Titles chosen by Information Specialist • Simultaneous users linked to number of copies• Initially 82 titles chosen (some more than one
copy) in Summer 2001• Followed by further purchases in Summer
2002 and 2003
Usage levels
• Loan period set at 24 hours – same as short loan
• A third of the books bought in 2001/2 have been accessed 10 or more times
• No way of distinguishing between a brief look and more substantial usage
Most popular books
1. Programming and problem solving with ADA (103 accesses)
2. Sams teach yourself beginning programming in 24 hours (56)
3. Ada plus data structures (42)
4. Human-computer interaction (39)
5. Computer systems (39)
netLibrary usage since Oct 2002
020406080
100120140160
Oct-02 Nov-02 Dec-02 Jan-03 Feb-03 Mar-03 Apr-03 May-03
Month
No
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CRC Press• Purchased from development fund• Package of titles (some in print at Aston)• Packages growing continually since
subscribed• No limit on simultaneous users• IP authenticated • ENGnetBASE available within Engineering
Village 2• New deal due to commence in Jan 2004
CRC Press usage since Oct 2002
0
50
100
150
200
Oct-02 Nov-02 Dec-02 Jan-03 Feb-03 Mar-03 Apr-03 May-03
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No
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Wiley encyclopedias• Development fund – would have been
impossible for Chemistry to fund on their own– Although has since received wider interest e.g.
from Pharmacy and Biology
• Staff voted on which encyclopedias they wanted
• Each encyclopedia must be searched individually
• No limit on simultaneous users• Athens/IP authenticated
Wiley Encyclopedias usage since Oct 2002
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Oct-02 Nov-02 Dec-02 Jan-03 Feb-03 Mar-03 Apr-03 May-03
Month
No
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acc
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Free e-books• PubMed bookshelf
– Biomedical textbooks, often previous edition, growing continually
– Funded by National Center for Biotechnology Information (US organisation)
• FreeBooks4Doctors– 600 Medical Books
• netLibrary’s free collection– Out of copyright works, mainly arts and
humanities based
E-book promotion• Inclusion in information skills sessions for
students, and academic staff development session
• Inclusion in catalogue (not CRC Press, due to length of contract)
• netLibrary used as case study in 1st year module
• Emails to staff and students• LISten – library newsletter to academic staff• Library web site
Reactions from staff and students
• Generally in favour of electronic provision wherever possible
• Students keen to see reading list, core textbooks
• Dislike reading on-screen
• Concern about value for money compared to print
Concerns
• Pricing models are expensive!– Can we afford to keep/expand provision?
• Availability of content
• Currency of material
• Limits on usage– off-campus use– simultaneous user restrictions
Concerns
• Archiving (although less than journals)– If services cancelled, may have nothing
to show for it
• Restrictions on printing/downloading can impair usability– E.g. downloading on netLibrary –
additional costs for some users
But…
• Students and staff like them
• Risk inherent in any innovation
• Many of these issues may be true for all electronic resources
• Many other benefits to balance the concerns
Future developments• So far, e-books concentrated in science
areas • Safari computing e-books
– Advantage of being able to “swap” books in and out of your collection
• Taylor and Francis (particularly for Life and Health Sciences)
• Oxford Reference Online (general library purchase)
• E-book provision almost certain to expand
Any questions?
Amanda Poulton
Frances Hall
http://www.aston.ac.uk/lis