ebook Call Numbers

[Kevil, L H.]

Good point, Ranti. Ebook industry practice has not yet caught up with library need.

However, our eBrary title-level data for example  do include LC call numbers, as well as other valuable information. Here is the list:

This report provides detailed usage for each title on your channel, including views, copies, prints, turnaways and wait queue, along with percent utilization (based on the number of unique pages accessed) for views copies and prints  You can select metadata columns to include. License, types, title, BISAC category and subcategory, Dewey, LC call number, author, publisher/imprint, content owner, pages and document type.

This is of course excellent information and should be demanded in every RFP for ebooks, particularly the publisher information. And of course the catalogue department needs to make sure that the call number supplied by the vendor is not stripped out during record loads.

In the absence of call numbers in vendor reports, we just need a common ID in our catalogue and in the vendor usage reports. ISBN or OCLC number might do.

Hunter

L. Hunter Kevil, Ph.D.
Collection Development Librarian
University of Missouri Libraries

kevill at missouri.edu 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Web technologies in libraries [mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ranti Junus
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 8:36 PM
To: WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [WEB4LIB] ebook Call Numbers

I agree adding a call number on ebooks would help to determine use by subject and for expenditure assessments. But, how exactly do you work on figuring out the subject-based expenditure? It is my understanding the vendor stats do not include specific call number. So, do you (or somebody in your organization) compare the titles given by the vendors with your titles in the catalog and then pull out the call number?


thanks,
ranti.


On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 1:07 PM, Kevil, L H. <KevilL at missouri.edu> wrote:
> IMO the principal reason to add call numbers to ebooks is to be able 
> to determine use by subject, just as we do for print books (pbooks.) 
> If ebooks did not have call numbers, we would not be able to compare 
> their use with the usage data for pbooks. Without those data, we would 
> not know whether our expenditures in particular subjects were optimal 
> or even the areas where we need more or fewer ebooks. Usage data for 
> ebooks are available from the vendors, but the subject categories are 
> typically broad and in any event do not have the precision of an LC call number.
>
> Our approval profile is organized by call number or LC classification. 
> As we start to receive ebooks via approval, the absence of call 
> numbers would introduce an element of complexity in our evaluation of 
> approval expenditures.
>
> Perhaps the best way to make the point is this: If you consider a book 
> a book, regardless of its format, then there should be a common way to 
> know the subjects of all our books. And since we are not going to 
> reclassify our stock of books, ebooks need to have the same call numbers as pbooks.
>
>
> L. Hunter Kevil, Ph.D.
> Collection Development Librarian
> University of Missouri Libraries
> kevill at missouri.edu

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