e-books
DESCRIPTION
Oxford/BL/LSE Study DayTRANSCRIPT
E-books in teaching and E-books in teaching and research: the LSE experienceresearch: the LSE experience
Vonny Bee, Teaching Support Manager and Maria Bell, Law Liaison LibrarianVonny Bee, Teaching Support Manager and Maria Bell, Law Liaison LibrarianBritish Library, Oxford University, LSE Study DayBritish Library, Oxford University, LSE Study Day
3030thth June 2008 June 2008
Collections and packages
• Title by title selected collection (teaching)– MyiLibrary
• Publishers packages (research)– Oxford Scholarship Online– Academic Library– Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Advantages
• Alternative to print copies of essential readings
• Links in online course materials (Moodle and reading list system)
• Remote and/or 24/7 access
• Added functionality
• Preview books for research or purchase
MyiLibrary collection
• Essential readings + MyiLibrary matching = 750 e-books
• Single user access but no lock out
• Content vs budget available
• Future purchases to potentially include low(er) demand readings, out of print items, alternative to IDD
Accessing e-books
• Catalogue search
• Moodle and Course Book Lists
• E-books section of electronic Library– by platform name– by list (Reference section)
Disadvantages
• ‘Spoon feeding’
• Printing and downloading
• Not equivalent to print
What now?
• Complementary aggregators
• Print = Electronic
• JISC National E-book Observatory Project
E-books for research“Researchers’ use of academic libraries and their services” Research Information Network and Consortium of Research Libraries (CURL). April 2007
New ways of working – changes in last decade in how researchers work
Used to working with digital resources, e.g. e-journals, official documents, working papers
Researchers are spending less time coming into libraries – working/researching away from institution
Less time spent photocopying materials Use of ILL is either declining or remaining static
JISC study“A Feasibility Study on the Acquisition of e-Books by HE Libraries and the Role of JISC. October 2006
In summary, librarians report wanting the following from their suppliers:
“Current titles Wider choice of titles relevant to the UK academic community 'Reading list' materials, principally more textbooks Flexibility in choosing between subscribing or outright purchase Sensible charging bands or prices regimes Multiple and concurrent access for users Easy access to the host server for Shibboleth/Athens users Provision that satisfies the requirements of meeting disability
legislation. A more systematic way of discovering what e-books are available”
LSE and e-books
LSE student surveys show that use of e-sources is of great importance
Current e-book collections suitable for research e.g. - Oxford Scholarship Online, - Academic Library (Pluto Press)- Eighteenth Century Collections Online – classic texts - SourceOECD - ACLS Humanities e-books (HEB)- Reference works, e.g. Oxford Reference Online, law reference works via Westlaw- Making of the Modern World (via Senate House)
Researchers at LSE & e-books use
Evidence of usage of e-book collections by researchers less clear
Perception is that under-used for research purposes Large collections are available but titles are not all
individually on Library Catalogue – less visible than print collections
Usage increases when e-books on library catalogue Discovery is key: reported that use of 180 titles from
NetLibrary increased by 400% once they were identified on the university OPAC with a direct link. (JISC. October 2006)
Role for librarians in raising awareness of titles held within departments and research centres.
Contacts
Vonny Bee, Teaching Support Manager
Maria Bell, Law Liaison Librarian,