Edinburgh University Library Committee
Agendum 5
E-Books Initiative: proposals for strategic investment in the acquisition and
delivery of e-books
In June 2007, Library Committee approved the allocation of £100,000 funding within the Materials
Budget 2007/08 for major strategic investment in e-books to support teaching and learning. Based on the
results of extensive research (which included a market review, discussions with comparator libraries, and
horizon-scanning) the paper below offers a considered view of the current e-book marketplace, and offers
recommendations for a pilot project to develop a more strategic approach to the acquisition and delivery
of e-book content.
Current situation
In recent years, the Library has acquired or subscribed to a number of major e-book collections, and has
purchased a number of individual titles. This includes large historical collections such as Early English
Books Online(c.125,000 titles) and Eighteenth Century Collections Online (c.150,000 titles); languagespecific collections such as the Apabi Digital Library of Chinese Books (4,600 titles); and subject-based
collections such as Oxford Scholarship Online (c.1,200 titles in humanities and social sciences); Safari,
Referex, Knovel (several hundred titles in Computing, Engineering, and Electronics). In addition to these
collections, approximately 400 one-off titles have been purchased via the NetLibrary platform, or direct
from publishers – usually in response to recommendations from academics and liaison librarians, or
arising from requests to provide online course readings via e-reserve.
Key drivers for strategic investment in e-book provision
Acquisition to date has been on a largely ad-hoc basis, but a more strategic approach is now required. The
key drivers include:
 HUB Collection – the collection will include the Reserve Collection and high use material from
Short Loan and General Collections. Formation and use of this collection will provide data to
inform e-book acquisition decisions. This will in turn provide 24/7 access to high-use key texts.
 User demand/acceptance – print only journals are now the exception, with e-journals well
established and used extensively within the University, with demand and expectations
exceeding what can be provided. Usage increased by 30% in 06/07. The Library continues to
invest in current content, but has also acquired a growing collection of journal backfiles. It is
anticipated that the demand and use of e-book content will be similar, provided appropriate
content is acquired.
 E-reserve – the growth in demand for this service highlights the use of online course readings
across a range of disciplines. Content is aggregated in the relevant VLE, alongside other course
materials, and is available to the student wherever and whenever it is required. Scanned
material should only be provided where no digital equivalent is available to purchase at
reasonable cost.
 Collections Policy – except for teaching collections, duplicate copies are not currently acquired,
and there may be scope to address duplication with e-books
Purchasing Models
Current e-book collections have been acquired in a variety of ways - outright purchase by the Library,
outright purchase by JISC, and by annual subscription. In some cases outright purchase may incur
recurrent hosting fees, even if the content is licensed in perpetuity. It is recognized that this mixed
approach will continue.
As part of the market review a major consideration has been to identify suppliers offering scalable and
sustainable purchasing models. The Library will continue to take advantage of national negotiated
collections via JISC, and where appropriate will subscribe to major collections which provide key content
and value for money, but the Library also needs to work with supplier[s] that provide both the service,
and platform functionality that meet our requirements, and facilitate title by title purchase.
The University of Edinburgh is part of two major national purchasing consortia, for journals and for
books, and the licensing of e-books has become an important factor in negotiations for new services from
booksellers.
Content
There is high demand for electronic textbooks, but very few are available for institutional licensing, as
publishers continue to target print sales to the student market. There is publisher resistance to changing
this model, but the JISC National E-books Observatory Project, http://www.jiscebooksproject.org/,
provides an opportunity to test this premise, and to monitor and evaluate student use of electronic text
books. The University is participating in this national project. Library acquisition will continue to focus
on monographs and collections which support teaching and research. Aggregated collections and
databases will also be reviewed as they become available, particularly where JISC have negotiated
national agreements for HE.
Collection Development and Acquisition
The Library Collections Policy states that an e-preference model exists in relation to the acquisition and
retention of material – particularly journals - taking into account financial feasibility, long-term access
and user needs. Whilst e-books form part of the e-preference model, it is recognized that a hybrid
approach will exist rather than a straightforward replacement of e-books for print. This is due to both the
specific requirement for hard copy in many instances, and the limited availability of content in some
areas.
To support the E-Books Initiative aim of building a critical mass of relevant e-book content during
2007/08, the following steps should be taken:
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high use print titles in the General Lending Collection and HUB Collection will be matched
against key e-book platforms, and this will be used as a primary basis for acquisition via
outright purchase
academics will be encouraged to consider the suitability of the e-book format as part of the
normal recommendation process, and online recommendation forms will be adapted to better
facilitate title-by-title acquisition of e-book material
acquisition of multiple copies of print books will be capped where an e-book version is
available, and a standard formula will be developed and agreed within the context of wider
Library Collections Policy
E-reserve requests will be assessed and outright purchase of e-books will be initiated where
relevant content is available
in consultation with academics and Liaison Librarians, additional subject- and publisherbased collections will be assessed and prioritised for outright acquisition
Discovery and Delivery
Ease of discovery is critical. E-book collections are included in the federated search service, Searcher,
which allows searching not just at title level, but of the full text, and this service will be enhanced to
include an option to limit searches to e-books. E-books and e-journals are also added to the library
catalogue, offering users the choice of print or electronic where both are available. The new
AquaBrowser service will present library catalogue results differently, to help users readily identify
different formats of the same work, and to allow limiting of searches to e-books.
Links and references to the content can be readily embedded in reading lists or on course sites, and
integrated with local authentication.
The new content and platforms will be publicised and promoted to academic staff and students to ensure
that use of the resources is maximized, and information skills training will include e-book content where
appropriate.
Monitoring and Evaluation
During 2007/08, the primary focus of the E-Books Initiative will be the development of a critical mass of
e-book content to support teaching, learning and research. In parallel with the collection development
activity, a key strand of this pilot project will be monitoring and evaluation of acquired content over a 12
month period to the end of 2008/09.
During this time, the uptake in the use of e-books will be monitored and usage data will be analysed, with
these results informing subsequent collection development decisions.
In addition, feedback will be sought from both academics and students to determine the level of
awareness and acceptance of the e-book format. Feedback will be sought through surveys and focus
groups, and will cover a range of factors including content awareness, ease of discovery and ease of use.
In the longer-term, these results will be considered alongside the outcomes of the JISC National E-books
Observatory Project.
Key Recommendations for action
1. The E-Book Initiative should be formulated as an 18 month pilot project led by the E-Resources
Manager and Acquisitions & Metadata Services Manager, reporting to the Collections Group.
At the conclusion of this pilot phase, outcomes will be presented to Library Committee.
2. The E-Books Intitiative funding of £100,000 should be primarily allocated to the acquisition
of a critical mass of relevant e-book content during 2007/08.
3. Monitoring and evaluation of the use and impact of acquired content will then be undertaken
over a 12 month period to the end of 2008/09.
4. The priorities for acquisition of content are as follows:
 high use print titles in the General Lending Collection and HUB Collection
 ongoing title-by-title recommendation of e-book material by academics to support
teaching , learning and research
 e-books will be purchased in response to E-reserve requests, where possible
 subject- and publisher-based collections will be evaluated as appropriate.
Liz G. Stevenson – E-Resources Manager
Elize Rowan – Acquisitions & Metadata Services Manager
5 February 2008