ALA2009_John Cox (John Cox Associates)

04/13/23 John Cox Associates Ltd 1

Developing an E-book Business Model: too new for standardization?

John CoxManaging DirectorJohn Cox Associates Ltd


Evolving e-book business model standards Obstacles to standardization:

- Anti-trust law: illegal to discuss

business models

- No typical e-book: different types of

book for different purposes

E-books ten years behind journals


Important distinctions: different types of e-book ‘Encyclopedia’ or reference works

‘Monographs’, or research & scholarship

‘Textbook’, or learning tools

- Course textbook adoptions

- Recommended reading


E-books are not just books Today’s e-books are facsimiles of print

Tomorrow’s e-books will be more complex and functional:

- searchable databases – reference- learning objects – textbooks- narratives – literature, monographs etc

Re-flowable text to display on a variety of devices, with personalization and visualization tools


Different market segments Libraries: collections of reference &

monographs from large publishers and aggregators

Individuals: chapters or pages to meet the need of the moment or incorporate as objects in course management systems

Different markets require different business models


Subscription models For reference & monograph collections

Access limited to set number of books/pages, or unlimited access

Reference databases often have additional functionality

Principal models: concurrent users, FTEs or other “size”-based structures

Collections: self-select or pre-selected


FTEs: weighting by type of institution – OUP approach 4-yr Academic: 100% of 1st 35,000FTE staff/

faculty/students; then 50%

2-yr Academic/

Specialized/Tribal: 50% of FTE staff/fac./ stud’ts

Middle/High Schools: 15% of no students Grades 9-12

Public & State 4% of population up to 100,000; Libraries: sliding scale to 2% of 1 million +

Corporations/Govt./ Military Agencies: 100% employees network access

Non-Profit: 50% employees network access


E-books included in journal packages or collections

Non-Journal Material in Bundles by Publisher Size

107

5

3536

9

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Small Medium Large

No

Yes


Size categorization: Carnegie and JISC

Carnegie Classification only applies in the USA

JISC Charging Bands based on UK Government funding; only applies in the UK

Not a ‘universal’ business model


E-book purchase models Purchase & download at most

publishers’ sites and online retailers

Price depends on content or type- Monographs: 10-20% off print price single user, or surcharge for multiple access e.g. Ebrary 150%

- Reference is different, e.g. Wiley

Print price Online pricing for purchase

<10K FTEs 10-40K FTEs 40K + FTEs

100 158 221 309

Textbooks: 50% discount off print


E-book rental – the short term subscription Why is a subscription always for a

year?

1, 7, 30, 90, 180 day rentals

Pricing from 20% for 7 days to 75% for 180 days

7 day rental most popular for T&F – aimed at students


Compilation & PPV models Customized textbooks not new. Compilation

of chapters from different titles now standard. For Pearson it is a major revenue source

Compilation facilities now spread beyond adopted textbooks to monographs and recommended reading, e.g. T&F’s eCompile. Priced at 15-20c per page

Pay-per-view not unlike purchasing individual journal articles, e.g T&F’s eCopy/ePrint


Micropayment facilities

A payment mechanism is required for small amounts- micropayments

T&F ‘MyWallet’ – a prepayment account used for any e-book service

Proven technology, like pay-as-you-go cell phone schemes

A role for PayPal?


Non-cash elements: access & usage rights Access: browse, download, print Authorized users: remote/walk-in? Display: HTML, PDF, XML, GIF etc Copy & paste: limited or unlimited? Download: limited or unlimited? Printing: by page, chapter or book? Output devices: PC, PDA, iPod etc Reader software@ Acrobat Reader etc MARC records supplied? If so, free or for

additional charge?

Standardization now? E-book business is too young and too

varied

Emerging consensus on supplying MARC records, copy & paste and printing

Standards inhibit experimentation

Nothing to stop librarians creating a list of requirements



Thank you for the privilege of sharing my thoughts with you

John Cox

John Cox Associates Ltd.

International Publishing Consultancy

[email protected]

www.johncoxassociates.com