Academic E-Books: Publishers, Librarians, and Users

Given that perspectives from the publisher and vendor are not common in library literature, the initial chapters in this collection by Ward (head, collection management), Robert Freeman (reference librarian), and Judith Nixon (bibliographer, all Purdue Univ.) are refreshing. How both parties must deal with complications of ebook publishing and the myriad complications around converting older works to electronic format are a revelation to librarians on the other side of the publishing divide. The prediction in the initial chapter that the exponential growth of ebook publishing has leveled off and the statistics showing that print still produces the majority of publishing revenue may come as a surprise. Yet, the remainder of the work focuses on librarian and reader experiences, with chapters containing original case studies and personal encounters. Topics explored include the success of patron-driven access (PDA) plans in libraries, the complexities of library ebook platforms, the costs and difficulties of replacing print books with digital ones in an academic setting, and the issues of interlibrary loan and the electronic format.