Academic Libraries and Ebooks: 

Models and subject based analysis of usage

Tina M. Adams,Academic Programs Librarian

E-book Data Compiled from Academic Institutions and Cumulative Reports

11% of titles received more use in e-book format than the print version of the same book (a single circulation of a print book takes up a longer period of time). 1

At many institutions, though print circulation has gone down, e-book circulation has risen to account for about 23% of total circulation, reaching nearly the level of print book circulation 1

39% of titles were used in both e-book and print formats, 34% of titles were used as e-books only and 27% were used as print titles only. 1

27% of users have only ever used an e-book once, 10% of users use e-books frequently, most, about 70% have used e-books occasionally 1

40% of users, used an e-book because there was no print book available1

42% of users like to use e-books when working from home1

55% of users, used an e-book because they are searchable1

71% of titles that do not circulate in print, are not accessed as e-books either1

Reference books were especially preferred as e-books1

More than 23% of the libraries in the sample owned some kind of stand alone ebook reading device (Kindles, Nooks, etc) 5

Expectations are that NAU usage would be similar and we do have an upcoming pilot to test the Purchase Driven Acquisition model of e-book purchasing which should give us some data on e-book usage at NAU.

Data Compiled by a Range of Academic Institutions and Cumulative Studies

• University of Texas at Dallas

• University of Texas at Austin

• California State University, Langston

• National University of Ireland at Galway

• Louisiana State University

• Auburn University

• University of Pittsburgh

• Primary Research Group’s, Library Use of E-books, 2011 Report (compiled from a large sample of academic and public libraries)

Benefits of E-books• Unlimited use (many e-books have multiple seats or unlimited access, so

the book is always “in”)

• Available from anywhere (Home, work, travelling) and anytime (not bound by Library Hours) and for distance students, doesn’t require waiting for books to be shipped to them

• Portability via e-readers, ipads, laptops etc (potentially though academic publishers haven’t been as quick to go mobile (e-readers) as others, the trend is beginning)

• Usable for Course Reserves and imbedding readings into Learning Management Systems

• Integration into Library Catalog, makes e-books more “findable”

• Ability to search the full text of a book

• Ability to resize text

• Definition lookup and Annotation functions

E-book Use by Discipline

Who Uses E-Books? Who Doesn’t Use E-books

• Greatest use of e-books occurred in Social Sciences, Economics & Business, Medicine, Sociology, Psychology and Literature.

• E-books in Education, Medicine, Psychology and Computing were used more than print books

• E-books in Science & Technology are used 6-17 times more than the print version of the same book

• Computer books are used 207 times more in e-book version than print version

• In the Social Sciences, Business and Literature a single title was equally likely to be used in print and e-book format

• Strong uptake overall in the use of e-books

Humanities Researchers: • Rely heavily on the library catalog as their

starting point for research, so e-book access through the catalog is critical.

• Are more aware of e-books because they encounter them via the catalog, but are less inclined to use e-books than faculty and undergraduates in other disciplines

• Graduate students were 10% more likely to use e-books than other Grad students.

• 55% of Humanities researches used an e-book because there was no print book available

• 68% of all Humanities researchers say they would always prefer the print version over an e-version of the book, while 60% of other users state that they would always or usually prefer print

2009 NAU E-book Usage (Ebrary & Netlibrary)

•Ebrary Usage▫Aug-Nov 20009 370,526 uses▫Many titles used hundreds or thousands of

times

•NetLibrary Usage▫8,000 uses ▫Usage is lower because NetLibrary titles

are olders and uses “check out” model which means a book can only be used by one person at a time.

Conclusions and Future Directions

• As Humanities publishing of quality e-book collections continues to grow, ie Books at JSTOR publishes e-books from prominent publishers, collections such as Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries, Oxford Scholarship Online--Humanities researchers may find e-books beneficial and become less averse to using them.

• Functionality and Interoperability of e-books offered to Academic Libraries is improving.

• As more publishers increase functionality, such as more liberal downloading and printing policies and ability to download books to e-readers and mobile devices, we believe student use will increase even more than it has.

Sources• 1.) Cox, John (2009) Adapting to E-books, Chapter “Making Sense of E-

book Usage, p.37

• 2.) Langston, M. (2003) The California State University E-book Pilot Project: Implications for Cooperative Collection Development. Library Collections, Acquisitions and Technical Services, 27 (1) 19-32

• 3.) Levine-Clark, M. (2007) Electronic Books and the humanities: A survey at the University of Denver. Collection Building, 26(1), 7-14.

• 4.) Littman, 2004 A Circulation Analysis of print books and e-books in an academic research library. Library Resources and Technical Services, 48 (4) 256-262.

• 5.) Primary Research Group. (2010). Library use of ebooks, 2011 edition. New York, N.Y: Primary Research Group.

• 6.) Safley. E (2006) Demand for e-books in an academic library. Journal of Library Administration, 45(3-4) 445-457.