Primary Research Group has published Library Use of E-books, 2008-09
Edition, (isbn 1-57440-101-7) and would like to share some of the results.
Data in the report is based on a survey of 75 academic, public and special
libraries. Librarians detail their plans on how they plan to develop their
e-book collections, what they think of e-book readers and software, and which
e-book aggregators and publishers appeal to them most and why. Other issues
covered include: library production of e-books and collection digitization,
e-book collection information literacy efforts, use of e-books in course
reserves and inter-library loan, e-book pricing and inflation issues, acquisition
sources and strategies for e-books and other issues of concern to libraries and
book publishers.
Some of the report’s findings are that:
· Libraries in the sample expected to renew over 77% of their current
contracts.
* Well over 81% of the sample cataloged their e-book collection and
listed it in their online library catalog.
· E-book spending by libraries is growing rapidly in 2008 but by
significantly less than in 2007
* For the most part, librarians in the sample felt that their patrons
were less skilled in using e-book collections than they were in using
databases of magazine, newspaper and journal articles.
* The libraries in the sample had MARC records for a mean of
approximately 74% of the e-books in their collections.
* Many libraries reported significant use of electronic directories.
12.5% reported extensive use and 30% said that use was significant. The
larger libraries reported the heaviest use.
* Use of e-books in the hard sciences was particularly high. More than
30% of participants said that use of e-books in the hard sciences (defined
as chemistry, physics and biology) was quite extensive and another 26% noted
significant use.
* Libraries in the sample maintained a print version for a mean of 24%
of the e-books in their e-book collections.
* Nearly 21% of the libraries in our sample have digitized
out-of-copyright books in their collections in order to make their contents more
available to their patrons.
* E-books account for only about 3.9% of the books on course reserve,
with a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 30%.
* Nearly 70% of the sample’s total spending on e-books was with
aggregators, while just over 24.6% of the total spending was spent with individual
publishers.
Data is broken out by library budget size, for US and non-US libraries and
for academic and non-academic libraries. The report presents more than 300
tables of data on e-book use by libraries, as well as analysis and commentary.
The report is available from Primary Research Group
(www.PrimaryResearch.com) and from major book distributors. For a list of survey participants, table
of contents and sample tables view our website at _www.PrimaryResearch.com_
(http://www.primaryresearch.com/) .
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