It’s painful and complex: finding the optimal business model for Library eBook supply

ANZ Library Advisory Council

Sunday 1st February 2015

Helen Adey

Resource Acquisition & Supply Team Manager

Nottingham Trent University, UK

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Content

• It’s Painful and Complex!

• Examples: how it is becoming more difficult

• Managed user access (MUA): The Student experience

• Digital textbooks

• First thoughts on a future optimal business model for Library eBooks supply

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It’s Painful & Complex!

• Source: JISC Co-Design Project Oct 2013-Feb 2014

• 500 issues raised, synthesised to 47 “pain points” including:

• Multitude of purchasing options• Discoverability issues - use and misuse of ISBNs, quality of

MARC records, synchronisation with discovery tools• Technical issues – compatibility with mobile devices and

accessibility software• Licencing issues - continuing and archival access• Need for a “Global Books in e”?

JISC report being signed off after trying to identify areas where problems are tractable

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Background - It is becoming more difficult (1)• Multi-user = 3 concurrent; significant numbers of turnaways

• Steady drop in number of credits from e-textbook publishers

• Increasing numbers only available as Managed User Access (MUA)

Credits Publisher Imprint Author Title

400 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd Palgrave Macmillan Ltd C. Heffer The Language of Jury Trial

400 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd Palgrave Macmillan Ltd C. Bertossi European Anti-Discrimination and the Politics of Citizenship

400 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd Palgrave Macmillan Ltd Wilkinson; Adrian;townsend; Keith The Future of Employment Relations

325 Pavilion Publishing & Media Pavilion Publishing & Media Tony Morrison Staff Supervision in Social Care

325 Pavilion Publishing & Media Pavilion Publishing & Media Sam Newman Personalisation

100 Pearson Education Pearson Education Dr Neil Martin Human Neuropsychology

100 Pearson Education Pearson Education James Cadle & Donald Yeates Project Management for Information Systems

100 Pearson Education Pearson Education Gilbert; David Retail Marketing Management

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It is becoming more difficult(2): Managed User access (MUA)

• User A – reads the MUA title online and the eBook is “checked out” and can’t be read by any other users until: User A has been inactive (no page turns) for more than 15 minutes User A “releases” the copy by clicking the “finished reading” button The reservation period ends

• User B – can add themselves to the queue or preview the title. After their 5 minute preview has ended, they will have the option to add themselves to the queue

• User A –finishes their online reading and clicks “finished reading” button or has been inactive in the book for 15 minutes or their reservation period has ended. The title now becomes available to User B in the queue

• User B – receives an email notification that the title has become available..

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Digital textbooks

• Becoming more common

• Costs are high; price per FTE for a specific time period or new annual subscription based models

• Role of the library being marginalised?

• Per FTE Model does not scale for Library supply

• Many players in the Marketplace - lots of competition for libraries– Amazon.com – “save 80% with Kindle Textbook Rental”

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Optimal model for Library eBook Supply?

• In the UK, acquisition is often prompted by Academic recommendations on reading lists

• Consequently, the majority of Library eBooks are ordered on a title by title basis; libraries need efficient workflows & publisher is rarely relevant!

• Library users expect ease of access & ease of use as givens

• eBooks purchased direct from publishers have the most liberal DRM

BUT

• No single point of discovery

• In the main - workflows for ordering direct from Publisher are not streamlined / optimised

• Could book supply intermediaries facilitate access to Publisher content – start to behave more like serial subscription agents?