Electronic books at Aston University

Amanda PoultonInformation Specialist

(Engineering and Life Sciences)

Frances HallInformation Specialist

(Engineering and Applied Science)

Library and Information Services

Overview• Background to Aston• Why electronic books? • Paid electronic books

– netLibrary– CRC Press– Wiley encyclopedias

• Free electronic books • Promotion• Reactions and concerns• Possible future developments

Background to Aston

• Approximately 6,000 students• Four main subject areas

– Life and health sciences– Engineering and applied science– Business– Languages

• Library already takes a number of electronic journal services (e.g. Science Direct, IEEE)

Aston LIS budgets

• Library and Information Resources budget divided between four schools, then between individual subject areas

• Budgets devolved to subject areas

• Engineering and Applied Science also have a Development Fund (£10,000)

E-book provision

• netLibrary (since Sept 2001)– 169 computer science and IT books

• CRC Press handbooks (since June 2002)– ENGnetBASE (178), CHEMnetBASE (8),

ENVIROnetBASE (115), MATHnetBASE (52), STATSnetBASE (40), FOODnetBASE (62)

• Three Wiley chemistry encyclopedias (since June 2002)

Why e-books?

• Began with Computer Science • Student numbers and growth

– problems with access to resources

• CS students not habitual library users– Giving them quality information over their

preferred medium – the Internet– Suited to their patterns of usage –

information continually available

Why e-books?

• Attractive deals available (Wiley as a JISC deal, CRC Press as a CHEST deal)

• Alternative to print reference collection, which wasn’t being heavily used

• Covered wide range of subjects – suitable for whole Engineering school

Other advantages

• Book collections fully searchable• No danger of theft or vandalism, or

wear and tear• No physical processing costs• 24/7 access, most available off-

campus• Speed of supply compared to printed

stock

netLibrary• Large book budget available in Computer

Science• Approval from head of subject and library

representative• Titles chosen by Information Specialist • Simultaneous users linked to number of copies• Initially 82 titles chosen (some more than one

copy) in Summer 2001• Followed by further purchases in Summer

2002 and 2003

Usage levels

• Loan period set at 24 hours – same as short loan

• A third of the books bought in 2001/2 have been accessed 10 or more times

• No way of distinguishing between a brief look and more substantial usage

Most popular books

1. Programming and problem solving with ADA (103 accesses)

2. Sams teach yourself beginning programming in 24 hours (56)

3. Ada plus data structures (42)

4. Human-computer interaction (39)

5. Computer systems (39)

netLibrary usage since Oct 2002

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CRC Press• Purchased from development fund• Package of titles (some in print at Aston)• Packages growing continually since

subscribed• No limit on simultaneous users• IP authenticated • ENGnetBASE available within Engineering

Village 2• New deal due to commence in Jan 2004

CRC Press usage since Oct 2002

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Wiley encyclopedias• Development fund – would have been

impossible for Chemistry to fund on their own– Although has since received wider interest e.g.

from Pharmacy and Biology

• Staff voted on which encyclopedias they wanted

• Each encyclopedia must be searched individually

• No limit on simultaneous users• Athens/IP authenticated

Wiley Encyclopedias usage since Oct 2002

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Free e-books• PubMed bookshelf

– Biomedical textbooks, often previous edition, growing continually

– Funded by National Center for Biotechnology Information (US organisation)

• FreeBooks4Doctors– 600 Medical Books

• netLibrary’s free collection– Out of copyright works, mainly arts and

humanities based

E-book promotion• Inclusion in information skills sessions for

students, and academic staff development session

• Inclusion in catalogue (not CRC Press, due to length of contract)

• netLibrary used as case study in 1st year module

• Emails to staff and students• LISten – library newsletter to academic staff• Library web site

Reactions from staff and students

• Generally in favour of electronic provision wherever possible

• Students keen to see reading list, core textbooks

• Dislike reading on-screen

• Concern about value for money compared to print

Concerns

• Pricing models are expensive!– Can we afford to keep/expand provision?

• Availability of content

• Currency of material

• Limits on usage– off-campus use– simultaneous user restrictions

Concerns

• Archiving (although less than journals)– If services cancelled, may have nothing

to show for it

• Restrictions on printing/downloading can impair usability– E.g. downloading on netLibrary –

additional costs for some users

But…

• Students and staff like them

• Risk inherent in any innovation

• Many of these issues may be true for all electronic resources

• Many other benefits to balance the concerns

Future developments• So far, e-books concentrated in science

areas • Safari computing e-books

– Advantage of being able to “swap” books in and out of your collection

• Taylor and Francis (particularly for Life and Health Sciences)

• Oxford Reference Online (general library purchase)

• E-book provision almost certain to expand

Future developments?

Any questions?

Amanda Poulton

a.j.poulton@aston.ac.uk

Frances Hall

f.hall@aston.ac.uk

http://www.aston.ac.uk/lis