E-Books at the ETH Zurich Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Marseille 2nd May 2005Ann McLuckie

E-Books 1.Definition 2.E-book choices at the ETH-Bibliothek 3.Packages / collections 4.Recording / cataloguing 5.Costs / pricing models 6.Usage 7.Benefits and/or disadvantages

E-Books definition E-Book Content Reader Software E-Book- Reader = ++

E-Books at the ETH Library No hand-held reading devices Only online books - Internet Books are read on PC / Mac PDF or HTML Supplementary to print collection Campus licences of collections Unlimited concurrent access

E-book collections at the ETH Knovel (August 2001) Wiley (March 2002) CRC Press (October 2002) Kluwer (November 2002) Dekker (November 2003) Safari (March 2004) Referex (May 2004)

knovel Science and engineering Books from: -CRC Press -Institute of Physics -Wiley -McGraw-Hill -Royal Society of Chemistry -SciTech -Springer -Woodhead, etc.

Wiley Wide subject range, e.g. -Business -Chemistry -Engineering -Law -Life sciences -Polymers and materials science -Psychology, etc.

CRC Press Wide subject range, e.g. -Chemistry -Engineering -Environmental Science -Forensics -Information Technology -Mathematics -Polymers -Statistics, etc.

Kluwer / Springer Wide subject range, e.g. -Agriculture -Arts -Earth Sciences -Education -Physics -Sports and Recreation -Travel and Geography, etc.

Dekker Engineering Medicine Chemistry

Safari Information Technology

Referex Engineering: -Materials and mechanical -Electronics and electrical -Chemical, petrochemical and processes

E-book collections at the ETH (as at April 2005) Knovel 699 Wiley 637 CRC Press 827 Kluwer 1197 Dekker 454 Safari ca.300 Referex 313 TOTAL : titles

OPAC entry for an e-book

Opac entry for an e-book One record for print and electronic format (repeated 856 MARC field) Automated extraction to library web page for browsing in alphabetical list and subject browsing (weekly update)

E-books page

Alphabetical list of e-books

Online book (Wiley)

E-books at the ETH-Bibliothek: Costs Price models vary greatly: Once-off payment – permanent access Subscription – pays for access during the subscription year only Leasing – after paying for a number of years, the content belongs to the library Free

E-books at the ETH-Bibliothek: cost implications Subscription: Easiest to manage (can budget; access to new titles added during year) But, no long-term access (if cancel subscription, lose all access) Once-off payment per title: Difficult to manage – new titles added continually – difficult to keep track of But, have ‘permanent’ access

E-books at the ETH-Bibliothek: cost implications Leasing: Easy to manage (like subscription) but may end up paying far more than if pay once-off Budgeting possible

Usage Not much direct feedback from users (no direct physical access to collection’s stacks at ETH) Usage statistics not always available or comparable Usage statistics indicate positive response 2004 Knovel: 1546 chapters per month (av) Wiley: 3024 chapters per month (av)

Why are e-books successful at the ETH? Book is always available Users don’t have to visit library Can access book from home Format ideal for books which are not read from cover-to-cover Additional features (hyperlinks, interactive tables, marking of text, searching in text, multimedia, etc.) No shelving required No physical processing required No wear-and-tear

Any disadvantages? Some additional software required in some cases Additional training of users Additional support by library staff No guarantee of long-term access

Any questions? Ann McLuckie