In Survey of Academic Librarians and Ebooks, Pointers Toward a Better System
Respondents to HighWire Press comment on features, selection, format, DRM, and business models
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 03/11/2010
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- Selection needs to evolve
- Mobile access looms
- Unlike with journals, pay per use not embraced
HighWire Press, affiliated with Stanford University Libraries, has released its 2009 Librarian eBook Survey (PDF) and, while many of the general findings may be familiar, they offer pointers to both ebook producers, selectors, and users to improve a medium that inevitably will see increasing use.
The analysis was written by Michael Newman, Head Librarian and Bibliographer, Falconer Biology Library, at Stanford.
According to the executive summary, participants predict a significant increase in library ebook budgets in the next five years, and express a variety of concerns:
- The most important features are simplicity and ease of use, then integration with the OPAC, while issues like notetaking and compatability with ereaders are down on the lists
- Librarians find ebooks through book vendors and content bundles, while users discover ebooks via the catalog and Internet search engines, as welll as the library web site
- The preferred format for now is PDF, though that will change with technology ("Don't know" was in second rank, well ahead of full-text HTML)
- What hinders ebook use? Digital rights management, or DRM
- The most acceptable business model is purchase with perpetual access, though other very different models can be acceptable
Methodology
The survey, conducted via surveymonkey.com, drew respondes from 138 librarians from 13 countries. Of respondents, 62 percent work in graduate/professional or undergraduate academic institutions, and represent a variety of roles, including reference, instruction, technical services, acquisitions, serials, digital resource management, and administration.
Looking at budget issues
The report cautions against overinterpretation of the answer regarding growth in acquisition budgets for ebooks, given that ebooks likely will replace printed monographs, not any other component of the budget:
The question asks about ebooks in relation to the overall acquisition budget. In STM libraries, monographs account for a small part of the overall acquisitions budget, and if ebooks completely replace printed monographs, their percentage of the total budget would remain small. ARL statistics show that even for ARL libraries, which cover all subjects, the mean expenditure (2007-08) for monographs is 24%. Therefore, the 75 participants (55%) who indicated that ebooks will represent 11%-50% of their library’s acquisition budget in five years may believe that by that time ebooks will represent nearly 100% of their monographic purchases.Though some participants indicated that in five years ebooks would represent more than half their library’s acquisition budget, it's likely that the question was interprted only in relation to monographic acquisition budgets.
Selection issues
Beyond vendors and bundles, ebooks are selected through multiple means, including requests from patrons, colleagues, references in research literature, and publisher marketing material.
That needs to evolve, according to the report. While book vendors have made it easy to select individual print titles, new tools are needed to help librarians with the selection process. Also, noted a few commenters, consortia are important in the acquisition of ejournals, and this model should be extended to ebooks.
Format issues
The report notes that only 12% of participants indicated that HTML is the preferred format, a surprise of sorts, given that the standard for journals is to offer articles in both HTML and PDF.
And while few indicated that users prefer ebooks optimized for dedicated ebook devices or other mobile devices, that figure should change as the market changes. One participant responded that “mobile device access may soon be the most important factor for most users.”
Beyond DRM
While DRM is the biggest barrier, the second most important factor remains preference for print.
The report notes that the difficulty in navigating ebooks "may or may not be related to DRM," so it would have been useful to ask whether poorly designed interfaces hinder use.
Also, while 44% of respondents said limited printing was unacceptable, it was not the most unacceptable form of DRM—rather, limited length of access and no ILL were cited. Still, users, if not librarians, find limited printing frustrating.
Pay-per-use not a good model
The report notes that 38% of respondents said the pay-per-use model was unacceptable, a relative surprise, given that the pay-per-use is common for journal articles.
However, there's a difference. With the latter, the library is not involved, and libraries require predictable expenditures when they plan their budgets.
The report indicates surprise that 18% found the concurrent seat access model very acceptable, given that "it does not allow for spikes in usage and it requires the institution to purchase seats that remain unused much of the time in order to be in reserve for peak times." Why might it be acceptable? Because it's familiar.
As for bundling of content, which got both positive and negative marks, the report indicates that the issue needs further research when it comes to ebooks, given both frustrations and opportunities with the model.
Why new features resisted?
Respondents expressed little enthusiasm for added features in ebooks, such as print on demand, compatibility with ebook readers, notetaking, personalization, and user sharing. "Possibly a survey of ebook users would yield different results," writes Newman, "but I think it reflects frustration with ebook designs that currently dominate the market in which interfaces are not intuitive and digital rights management is more important than ease of use."
Making purchasing easier
Respondents said they'd like to integrate ebooks into their existing print book acquisition and cataloging systems, buying content at the same time and paying the same way. Also, they indicated that they want the price of the ebook to be comparable with that of the print book—which differs from the consumer model for now.
Price and beyond
It's not surprising that, when an ebook is available from multiple sources, price is the most important factor. The other important factors? End-user features, fewer DRM-related limits, ease of account administration, and business model.
The wish list
Asked about other factors not raised, respondents raised some recurring themes:
Librarians want MARC records. They want the freedom to select ebook titles individually or in subject packages. They want ebook content to be released simultaneously with print if not sooner. They see room for improvement in user interfaces and they complain that DRM interferes with printing and downloading.
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