- Email: [email protected]
CMDS collection development librarians of academic libraries discussion group
Conference Reports / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 24 (2000) 267–350
303
Collecting the ebook: a report on the ALCTS/CMDS collection development librarians of academic libraries discussion group Books in a new medium, or is it media? It is definitely a new decision for librarians as the eBook becomes a viable format and adds another possibility to the mix of materials available in academic libraries. Librarians from two university libraries and a representative from netLibrary, one of the companies producing and selling eBooks, presented the reasons they believe this new format is a useful and viable option for college and university collections. Why would anyone choose to read a book from one of these small screens rather than the traditional format? The presenters at this meeting say this question is one that will not even arise in the minds of our future students, nor even for many of our present college age patrons. Even if you do not want to curl up in a hammock with a hard black box, there are valid reasons for allocating part of your budget to purchasing some titles in this format. These include traditional concerns such as the expense of maintenance and shelving growing collections, inadequate budgets to purchase multiple copies of the same title or to keep up with the demand for computer handbooks that soon go out of date, and the need to more effectively serve distance education students. Dennis Dillon (University of Texas at Austin) and Chris Filstrup (North Carolina State University) gave additional reasons for their recent decisions to purchase electronic books: the suitability of the format for reference and “how to” books that are never read cover to cover, improved turn around time on a book “circulation,” and a tradition at their libraries of experimentation and encouragement to try new ways to meet evolving needs. Brian Stern (netLibrary) described the currently existing products and methods for accessing eBooks, saying that currently we are choosing among technology that is advancing so quickly that there will be a third generation of options available in only a year. When reviewing those available today, a major consideration is the hardware needed to access the electronic book. He cited the advantages offered by his company’s PC/web based product: powerful indexing and cross reference capabilities, instant access from anywhere, availability of detailed usage data, and the ability to access the titles from existing hardware. A related benefit is the ability to share books within consortia without transporting titles between libraries. You can annotate as you read and can copy or print a page at a time. Only one patron can view one eBook copy at a time. Library purchases of netLibrary titles can be made by collections or on a title by title basis for $37 per item. Access is protected through third party escrow. Circulation or checkout limits and times for library patrons are determined by institution policy. Bob Nardini (Yankee Book Peddler) gave the library book vendor’s perspective on this new and revolutionary access to the printed word, saying the traditional functions that vendors perform are also needed when libraries enter into the purchasing arena of this new field. Consolidation of orders, invoicing, facilitating the flow of information between publishers and libraries and the possibility of a new form for the approval plan are some of the services that could evolve and be of great benefit to librarians. The need for the interested parties to work together in developing new models to meet the challenges this new technology presents to the library community was obvious. Questions and issues remain. The money to purchase these titles must come from existing
304
Conference Reports / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 24 (2000) 267–350
budgets or unpredictable “one time money.” Will eBooks replace or just supplement and enhance collections? Will patrons have more of an impact on purchase decisions ? Will selections be over broad subject disciplines or subject specific? What are the training needs and what will be the role of the librarian in the learning curve the patron enters? Are we all running harder each year and still waiting for the legendary “high” that comes to those in the race with experience and preparation? Or do we feel a sense of exhilaration that we are now entering a new era with selection and purchasing of eBooks in the offering? Is the next generation library here? This meeting filled the role of an ALCTS discussion group admirably well and left attendees more educated and enthusiastic about the promise of the electronic book and its place in our future collections. Dorothy K. Marcinko Auburn University Library Auburn University, AL 36849, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (D.K. Marcinko). Electronic scholarly publishing: opportunities for collaboration among librarians, publishers, and scholars Mary Summerfield (Online Books Project, Columbia University Libraries), Kristine Brancolini substituting for Julianne Bobay (Information Science Library, Indiana University at Bloomington) and Mary M. Case (ARL) discussed the current state of electronic scholarly publishing. Summerfield discussed the history of the Online Books Project and Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO). She first discussed how the Online Books Project conducted an environmental analysis of users. They used focus groups, interviews and surveys. Reports of the key findings of the group are available at ⬍www.columbia.edu/cu/ libraries/digital/texts/about.html⬎. This project will last until 1999. CIAO began in September 1997. Its primary focus is gray literature and conference proceedings. The team surveyed the subscribers about the strengths and weaknesses of the site. The strengths are the availability and access to the documents but the weaknesses are the slowness of the computer, downtime and reading online is uncomfortable. The users are seeking the usability of a print book. They want narrow lines, white space, scrolling down and the ability to extract and annotate to a print file. Since the inception of CIAO, the librarians have found that the CIAO database has eased problems with reserve shelf space and that demand for ILL has dropped. The study covered the librarian’s concerns about offering online databases. Some concerns are that students will seek only what is online, though it may not be the best resource. Online cannot replace the printed book. Other concerns are who will decide who will provide what online. Who will refresh and preserve these online products? The authors are concerned with the question of whether anyone would purchase the print version of their book if it is also online. The publishers want control of the book for sales and profitability. Summerfield concluded that online compliments the print. Brancolini read Bobay’s report. She discussed the results of Indiana University study of PEAK (Pricing Electronic Access to Knowledge) ⬍http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/ peak⬎. PEAK is pricing model designed by the University of Michigan and Elsevier to test different pricing approaches for online products. This experiment provided 1,200 full-text
303
Collecting the ebook: a report on the ALCTS/CMDS collection development librarians of academic libraries discussion group Books in a new medium, or is it media? It is definitely a new decision for librarians as the eBook becomes a viable format and adds another possibility to the mix of materials available in academic libraries. Librarians from two university libraries and a representative from netLibrary, one of the companies producing and selling eBooks, presented the reasons they believe this new format is a useful and viable option for college and university collections. Why would anyone choose to read a book from one of these small screens rather than the traditional format? The presenters at this meeting say this question is one that will not even arise in the minds of our future students, nor even for many of our present college age patrons. Even if you do not want to curl up in a hammock with a hard black box, there are valid reasons for allocating part of your budget to purchasing some titles in this format. These include traditional concerns such as the expense of maintenance and shelving growing collections, inadequate budgets to purchase multiple copies of the same title or to keep up with the demand for computer handbooks that soon go out of date, and the need to more effectively serve distance education students. Dennis Dillon (University of Texas at Austin) and Chris Filstrup (North Carolina State University) gave additional reasons for their recent decisions to purchase electronic books: the suitability of the format for reference and “how to” books that are never read cover to cover, improved turn around time on a book “circulation,” and a tradition at their libraries of experimentation and encouragement to try new ways to meet evolving needs. Brian Stern (netLibrary) described the currently existing products and methods for accessing eBooks, saying that currently we are choosing among technology that is advancing so quickly that there will be a third generation of options available in only a year. When reviewing those available today, a major consideration is the hardware needed to access the electronic book. He cited the advantages offered by his company’s PC/web based product: powerful indexing and cross reference capabilities, instant access from anywhere, availability of detailed usage data, and the ability to access the titles from existing hardware. A related benefit is the ability to share books within consortia without transporting titles between libraries. You can annotate as you read and can copy or print a page at a time. Only one patron can view one eBook copy at a time. Library purchases of netLibrary titles can be made by collections or on a title by title basis for $37 per item. Access is protected through third party escrow. Circulation or checkout limits and times for library patrons are determined by institution policy. Bob Nardini (Yankee Book Peddler) gave the library book vendor’s perspective on this new and revolutionary access to the printed word, saying the traditional functions that vendors perform are also needed when libraries enter into the purchasing arena of this new field. Consolidation of orders, invoicing, facilitating the flow of information between publishers and libraries and the possibility of a new form for the approval plan are some of the services that could evolve and be of great benefit to librarians. The need for the interested parties to work together in developing new models to meet the challenges this new technology presents to the library community was obvious. Questions and issues remain. The money to purchase these titles must come from existing
304
Conference Reports / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 24 (2000) 267–350
budgets or unpredictable “one time money.” Will eBooks replace or just supplement and enhance collections? Will patrons have more of an impact on purchase decisions ? Will selections be over broad subject disciplines or subject specific? What are the training needs and what will be the role of the librarian in the learning curve the patron enters? Are we all running harder each year and still waiting for the legendary “high” that comes to those in the race with experience and preparation? Or do we feel a sense of exhilaration that we are now entering a new era with selection and purchasing of eBooks in the offering? Is the next generation library here? This meeting filled the role of an ALCTS discussion group admirably well and left attendees more educated and enthusiastic about the promise of the electronic book and its place in our future collections. Dorothy K. Marcinko Auburn University Library Auburn University, AL 36849, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (D.K. Marcinko). Electronic scholarly publishing: opportunities for collaboration among librarians, publishers, and scholars Mary Summerfield (Online Books Project, Columbia University Libraries), Kristine Brancolini substituting for Julianne Bobay (Information Science Library, Indiana University at Bloomington) and Mary M. Case (ARL) discussed the current state of electronic scholarly publishing. Summerfield discussed the history of the Online Books Project and Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO). She first discussed how the Online Books Project conducted an environmental analysis of users. They used focus groups, interviews and surveys. Reports of the key findings of the group are available at ⬍www.columbia.edu/cu/ libraries/digital/texts/about.html⬎. This project will last until 1999. CIAO began in September 1997. Its primary focus is gray literature and conference proceedings. The team surveyed the subscribers about the strengths and weaknesses of the site. The strengths are the availability and access to the documents but the weaknesses are the slowness of the computer, downtime and reading online is uncomfortable. The users are seeking the usability of a print book. They want narrow lines, white space, scrolling down and the ability to extract and annotate to a print file. Since the inception of CIAO, the librarians have found that the CIAO database has eased problems with reserve shelf space and that demand for ILL has dropped. The study covered the librarian’s concerns about offering online databases. Some concerns are that students will seek only what is online, though it may not be the best resource. Online cannot replace the printed book. Other concerns are who will decide who will provide what online. Who will refresh and preserve these online products? The authors are concerned with the question of whether anyone would purchase the print version of their book if it is also online. The publishers want control of the book for sales and profitability. Summerfield concluded that online compliments the print. Brancolini read Bobay’s report. She discussed the results of Indiana University study of PEAK (Pricing Electronic Access to Knowledge) ⬍http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/ peak⬎. PEAK is pricing model designed by the University of Michigan and Elsevier to test different pricing approaches for online products. This experiment provided 1,200 full-text