Unlimited Access
Unlimited access should be a no-brainer, but publishers keep selling single-use licenses to ebooks and librarians keep paying for them, so obviously it’s not. The main advantage of ebooks over print books for library users is accessibility. They might take up less room in the stacks, and a PDA (patron-driven acquisition) ebook plan might save the library some money, but neither of those goals has anything to do with providing the best experience for library users. If accessibility is the main advantage, then limiting that accessibility makes things worse for library users than they need to be. A print book is limited to a single person because it’s a physical object that’s not easily reproducible. An ebook is limited to a one individual because someone deliberately restricted access. Without a specific user request, I won’t buy ebooks with unnecessary usage restrictions, and sometimes I won’t buy one even with a request.DRM-free Downloads
This one is similar to unlimited access. Unless specifically requested, I refuse to pay money to have access restricted in order to protect sales or copyright or whatever it is scholarly publishers think they are protecting by not allowing DRM-free downloads. Not everyone is going to be reading online. Some scholars are going to want to save relevant books and book chapters the same way they save articles. Entire services such as Zotero are designed to save works with their citations for ease of use. Ebooks technically can be saved the same way for the same purpose, and if that’s not available, then once again it’s an unnecessary hindrance to library users. iTunes and Amazon now sell DRM-free songs, and the music industry hasn’t collapsed. There’s nothing to fear.Interlibrary Loan
Ebooks must be available for lending through interlibrary loan (ILL). Many publishers already allow this, and the missing feature is an apparatus for doing so. There are traditional channels for sending PDFs, but on this topic I do appreciate why publishers would be wary. Theoretically, one library could purchase an ebook and just send multiple copies to other libraries that have no intention of buying the book regardless of the use. I wouldn’t support DRM, but some sort of ILL/PDA option might work well. If a library borrows an ebook through ILL a couple of times, then the ILL transaction turns into a purchase. That would have to be built into publisher platforms to work, but if possible it would be a way to protect ILL while encouraging sales.Individual Titles
Some publishers have great ebook platforms—Springer, for example—but it’s impossible to purchase single titles on those platforms. As a subject selector, I’m not interested in investing most or all of my budget in the entire package of a particular publisher’s ebooks. Although I have relatively generous funding for my areas, those funds are still limited, and I have to go with the option that gives me the most freedom of choice in the books I select. When we add in the other requirements such as unlimited access and DRM-free downloads, then my choice among ebooks is severely restricted. Even publishers that have good platforms will often sell individual titles only through third-party vendors with such restrictions. I had a request for a Springer ebook. My choice was a third-party vendor with a single-user license or buying an ebook package from Springer for $13,000. Thanks, but no thanks.Reasonable Prices
By reasonable, I mean for both libraries and publishers. Amazon has inadvertently fostered the myth that because there’s no printing or physical distribution, book prices should be extremely low, but printing and distribution are a relatively small part of the cost of producing a book. The hardcover price of the book could be a minimum starting point for library ebooks. Some prices are just outrageous, though. I had a request to purchase an ebook from Oxford University Press. The book was published in 2004, and we already had a print copy. OUP offered to sell me an unlimited license for the ebook for $525. If that didn’t work for me, I could instead purchase a backfile containing the book for only $13,000. Again, thanks, but no thanks. The good news is that there are publishers and platforms that meet some or most of these criteria. The industry is obviously in transition, and I’m hoping it moves completely in this direction. However, until I have the same benefits I have with print books plus the benefits of ebooks, I won’t switch to ebooks as my first preference. For me, ebooks continue to be a nice add-on until such time as the industry standards improve, or I absolutely can’t buy print books anymore. I have to make a default choice between print and electronic for the majority of the books, and as long as publishers are deliberately restricting the capacity of ebook technology, I’ll still choose print as the default option.We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing
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Karin Wikoff
Here's the thing -- yes, those are the ideals a librarian would want for an e-book. As head of tech services, I totally understand about needing to get the best resources for the most affordable prices. But how is it sustainable? Most academic texts already don't bring in enough revenue to cover the cost of producing and distributing them. I can see why so many publishers are terrified of electronic formats and the way they can take a huge gouge out of already slender profit margins (with a few notable exceptions I don't need to name here because you know who they are). What I'd really like to see is a conference table with a fair representation of both librarians and publishers who can all put aside their prejudices about each other to take the other guy's legitimate concerns in mind and come up with a model together that truly works for everyone. KW -- pipe dreamerPosted : Dec 23, 2014 08:47
Carol
Patrick’s comment that, “I believe that if I buy an ebook, I should be able to use it for the rest of my life (with the occasional need for a format conversion).” touches on one of my concerns about academic libraries buying eBooks. The microform formats that we used just yesterday (think micro-opaque cards and ultrafiche) are obsolete. Libraries were offered the chance to replace large collections such as the Library of English Literature (LEL) and Library of American Civilization (LAC) with microfiche cards for around $50,000 a set, as I recall. The cost of that “format conversion” was beyond many libraries’ reach, and they still have the ultrafiche. Some are linking to digitized versions, but the labor of linking is not free. Sooner or later, there will be something disruptive that makes eBooks obsolete. Then libraries that have poured thousands of dollars into eBooks will be stuck with yet another obsolete format --unless they have funds to repurchase the same books in the new format (they won’t come free). Whether it is holographic books or something we have yet to imagine, I believe that libraries that buy and own eBooks should make generous terms for format conversions a condition of purchase.Posted : Dec 18, 2014 11:00
Julia Mitford
Great article. I agree wholeheartedly with the points you've made, particularly about user licenses and pricing. I was looking to acquire a list of audio technology books for our library - only 1 copy of each would be generally required in print and we often go for paperback. The paperback is $65 AUD and Taylor & Francis through EBL are offering a digital copy for over $300. With prices like these we'll never be able to afford to stick with digital delivery. We can offer on demand eBooks with EBL but with some publishers now charging $40+ AUD for 7 day loans even that is almost impossible now. The EBL business model always reflected the way libraries are used and prices were reasonable but the publishers who think they're protecting their sales are stopping it from working to full effect, and I fear now they're part of the ProQuest empire there's no one fighting for that business model anymore. And guess what publishers? We'll just find a different text for our course which is priced more reasonably, or we'll stick with the $65 paperback thanks very much.Posted : Dec 18, 2014 03:22
A Kelly
Another late comment! This is a great discussion and will help inform our collection policy... Our library is committed to providing resources for our distance-learning and non-traditional students (those who might not be able to fit a library visit into full-time work schedules, for example). So we have to consider eBooks as resources for curriculum in those programs. Here's hoping for better and better options that protect user privacy and facilitate user access.Posted : Nov 20, 2014 02:06
Dan D'Agostino
Thanks Brian, I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your points. I just want to be clear that my anger doesn't come from the idea that academic libraries are not choosing wisely from among the various types of packages that publishers are offering, but that publishers are not offering the kind of package that makes sense given the technology available. That is, what I want is not even on the table, or hasn't been until just recently (and then in a limited way). What I want to do is pay for downloadable e-books at a set fee per title, and the ability to choose title by title, rather than pay for unlimited cc use for a package of ebooks for which I have no control over content. In other words, a system for e-books that mimics the print world. Regarding DRM, my point is that some librarians, like the author of the piece above, do have an ideological aversion to DRM which I find incomprehensible. Just look at the music industry as a model for what would happen to academic publishing if DRM were removed entirely from all e-book content. It may be that the music industry has not collapsed, but most professional musicians are now poor. Only a very, very few can make money on recordings. If academic publishing went the same way I think what you would see is a much smaller number of titles, and very few commissioned works. How would this be a better world for the scholarly community? I am not an American, and perhaps it is unfair of me to say this, but it seems to me that this view that DRM is always bad, as our author seems to think, seems particularly American (that is, that regulation is inherently a bad thing). My point of view, which is shared by many outside the US, is that sometimes regulation is a good thing, particularly when used to protect vulnerable industries. Unlimited freedoms are not always in everyone's best interest. Sometimes insisting on unlimited freedoms (i.e., the abolition of all DRM on e-books) is the equivalent of cutting off your nose to spite your face. After all, what constitutes the better musical experience, listening to high quality recordings as in the past (a la the Beatles), or watching America's Top Idol today?Posted : Nov 11, 2014 10:41
Dan D'Agostino
Hi, I know I'm late to the party, but I'd like to disagree with a couple of points. Research libraries trying to build comprehensive e-book collections are being hurt by the vendor/publisher penchant for offering packages with unlimited cc user for all the titles. This is insane as it channels us into tiered pricing where larger universities must pay a premium for unlimited cc use for e-books that, for the majority, will never be used heavily. Let me repeat that. For large e-book packages, the majority of titles will never be used heavily enough to justify unlimited cc use. Having publishers provide us with a limited use DRM driven download, as per Overdrive, would make economic sense. Money saved this way could be used to buy more titles from other packages -- something closer to a research collection than is currently possible. Also, I'm wondering if you've ever tried to read an academic e-book in it's entirety? The miserable reading experience has everything to do with being tied to a web based reader. Meantime, many tens of thousands of people, including myself, enjoy e-books that the public library can deliver via Overdrive; e-books that readers can download (with DRM) to hand held devices. DRM does not seem to have been a deal breaker for public library patrons, so I've never understood why in the academic world it's seen as such an anathema. My question to you and the other commenters would be, after several years in the e-book world, which libraries have done a better job for their readers: public libraries or academic libraries? Who has been more successful at actually getting their users to read e-books? Perhaps we should be looking at what we can learn from them rather than continuing down the path of inflated prices and miserable platforms.Posted : Nov 10, 2014 08:46
Wayne BT
Pat, thanks for the comment and the blog post. 4 out of 5 isn't bad. And for reference titles, the missing ILL actually isn't that important to me, since even print reference titles were rarely leant through ILL. My library does subscribe to GVRL, and it's a very useful product.Posted : Nov 05, 2014 12:38
Pat Coryell, VP/Publisher GVRL
Thank you, Wayne, for writing such a thoughtful opinion piece, and for encouraging meaningful discussion among your readers both here and with your previous post. I'm the VP/Publisher at Gale specifically responsible for GVRL, our eBook platform, and I've followed along to your articles with great interest. I've also posted a public response addressing many of the problems/desired solutions you outline over on The Gale Blog. I'd encourage you to read and respond. I'm eager to continue the conversation on how Publishers/eBook providers can best meet your needs, and the needs of today's researchers. http://blog.gale.com/gvrl-delivers-what-you-want-from-ebooks/ Regards, Pat Patricia Coryell Vice President & Publisher, New Products & GVRL Gale, a part of Cengage LearningPosted : Nov 04, 2014 11:30
David
Also I would like eBooks to available in several formats. Different users have different reading devices: Kindle, iPad, Nook, Kobo... At a bare minimum an eBook should be available as an ePub, PDF and azw (or mobi).Posted : Nov 04, 2014 12:28
Brian Risse
I'd like point out that the Gale Virtual Reference LIbrary(GVRL)satisfies 4 or the 5 criteria described above(no ILL). In response to some of the comments.... GVRL indexes and returns content at the article level, delivers content in both HTML and .pdf(so no privacy concerns). Full transparency... I work for Gale.Posted : Nov 02, 2014 01:38
Cornel Darden Jr.
I agree with you Wayne. This is exactly what I want from eBooks too. I do vigorously look to purchase them though despite the issues that you mentioned. I just try hard to look for ways to work within the current system. The print books is not conducive to learning in the 21st century. There is so much information and so many needs to and problems that a print book can't easily and quickly solve. The print book is a hindrance. We should focus on freeing the eBook from those issues that you mentioned. But we, as librarians, must teach our users about eBooks, and take a professional stance on which format is better in an information age. As a young librarian, I preach eBooks. I definitely don't want to be on the wrong side of history.Posted : Nov 02, 2014 01:32
r harwood
Yes, yes, yes and I agree about the anonymity/privacy issue especially. Public Librarians have jumped on the eBook bandwagon so heedlessly that there's little chance to hold the line and get better service from publishers and distributors, though efforts like Enki hold some promise. If academic librarians can do better and hold out for the true and full functionality of eBooks, that is a better compass heading for readers, scholarship and librarianship.Posted : Nov 01, 2014 02:23
Kathleen Folger
I'd add the ability to read anonymously or at least as anonymously as possible in a digital environment. My preference would be that users not have to have an account on the ebook platform to access the content, that IP authentication, while not completely anonymous, would be sufficient. If there must be an account, it should allow for SAML Single Sign-On. In addition, I'd like users to have the option to download either individual chapters or the entire book, DRM-Free.Posted : Oct 31, 2014 07:37
Marilyn Pierro
Please tell me what DRM is.Posted : Oct 31, 2014 07:33
Zach
Good article, and reflective of my opinions on e-books. I would add another expectation that I have, and that is for chapter-level metadata that can be integrated in our discovery system. Wiley's e-books meet all of your criteria, plus this one. While their e-books are very expensive, they mark them up very little from the price of the Cloth print titles. While I would love to buy e-books from Springer, OUP, JSTOR, etc., very, very few of the existing vendors/publishers adhere to a set of standards like this. Another problem that would prevent me from making the switch, is that the research literature reflects a common preference for print among academic researchers. This is for a variety of reasons: less eye strain; ability to multi-task among multiple books at once; easier to read outside, on the couch, etc. I once thought that tablets would provide a way to overcome people's dislike of reading books on a screen, but I have my doubts about that.Posted : Oct 31, 2014 05:45
Jeroen Bosman
Although I agree with most of what you say I have made the switch because, Some important publsihers do offer what you ask for (except the ILL): Palgrave, CUP, Elgar, T&F (on half of their catalogue), Brill, JSTOR, Elsevier (although you can always argue over what is a fair price). We buy the rest on the EBL platform, but it is not the favoured option. It is multiple user, but alas with DRM, so not acceptable for you. If you are in a large library serving a broad university the so caled EBS model might be interesting to try: pay for one year of access to the full catalogue of a publisher (or to say the last 4 years) and at the end of the be able to select individual titles to keep indefinitely up the the amount you agreed to spend for the year's access. It has the advantage that you have download figures of real usage by your patrons to base your selection on.Posted : Oct 31, 2014 02:27
Andy Woodworth
If I might be so bold as to add one item to the list (and it might just go under Pricing), the practice of bundling eBooks with the print books would be welcome. I know it is done with certain publishers of reference materials for the public library, but it would be a welcome expansion to the rest of the collection. (Provided it was under reasonable terms, of course.)Posted : Oct 30, 2014 07:29