eBooks – the view from Bristol

ALISS AGM 2011

Angela Joyce 16 June 2011

Current situation

• Have bought eBooks regularly since 2009

• Not demand-driven

• Main platforms are Dawsons and Coutts

• Also some packages – eg. Oxford Scholarship Online

• I use eBooks with Econs, Finance, Management students – 1,400 students

A few statistics….

•Total no of students at Uni of Bristol (Full time equivalent)

18,615 (2009-10)

•No of individual eBooks in library 812 approx

•Total accesses - Dawsons 4175 (2010)

•Top eBook (Dawsons) 518 in 2010 – ‘Reconstructing

criminal law’

•Popular subjects – education, law, management, science, but

accesses across all subjects. Some books only had 1 access

How do students access them?

• Individually via catalogue

• Packages via Metalib ( + there is project to ‘slurp’ records into catalogue from Oxford Schol and Springer packages)

• Via a special eBooks page on library site

How do we publicise eBooks?

• So far – informally via subject librarians

• Inductions, word of mouth, email

• On our Web pages

• New library catalogue search filter

• eBooks promotion group to plan more

What do our users think? Anecdotes…

Yes?

No?

‘That's a shame we bought it as an

ebook, it doesn't really feel like we

own it.’‘One dept prefers eBooks – maybe to

address adverse NSS feedback?’

‘Students have been trying to print out entire

eBooks and using up all the paper!’

‘I’ve never looked at

them! Can we have a list? ‘

(Staff)

‘Can we have more eBooks

for finance please?’

More feedback…

‘almost none of the main textbooks are actually available electronically or, if

they are, tend to be hideously expensive’

‘I had one student knock on my door close to tears because they

could not get hold of a book they needed and

had downloaded an eBook a few days back but were totally baffled that it had disappeared (due to the DawsonEra 24 hour only download

setting)’

‘he wants me to buy eBook versions wherever possible, as he does not want his students to have to leave the clinics to look things up in the Library, but to be able to do it at the patient's side.’

‘we are being economically and politically driven’

Informal survey - econs, finance & management school

• Run using Survey Monkey http://www.surveymonkey.com/

• 1,400 students and their staff targeted.

• 80 respondents

• Mix of multiple choice and open questions

Findings…

Why is that? Answers…

• “limited resources, uncustomized

• Can access books when needed. Everyone needed the same book at the same time and it was available

• unaware of existence

• They are easily accessible 24/7 and I don't have to place in reservations and wait for a book to become available. “

More..

Do you have any other comments on eBooks? eg. problems, advantages, library help?

• “eBooks have huge potential. I'm not clear what is available from the library without searching. So far, I haven't found anything I need. But I will be buying Kindle and iPad ebooks for my personal research. It would be great to have core course texts available for classes I teach, too. Is there a way to request the library obtain specific ebooks?”

More feedback…

• “If I go abroad, can I still get access to these ebooks? Thank you:)

• I would have liked some sort of training on how to use ebooks or the right places to get the ebooks. Also, it would have been a big help if the University would have provided ebooks for our course

• what are eBooks?”

National situation

• JISC national e-books observatory project (2009)

• http://www.jiscebooksproject.org/wp-content/JISC-e-books-observatory-final-report-Nov-09.pdf

• Interesting feedback…. Worth a look• JISC are active in more research on eBooks…

Thank you!Any questions……..?

Angela Joyceangela.joyce@bristol.ac.uk