Zach Berger -- School Libraries / RILINK (Member Services Librarian, RILINK)
Julie Kliever – Academic Libraries (Commons Librarian for Research, Education and Collections, Providence College)
Jessica D'Avanza – Public Libraries (chair, EZone Committee/Ocean State Libraries (OSL); Community Services Librarian, Barrington Public Library)
eBooks in RI School, Academic and Public Libraries
Zach Berger -- School Libraries (RILINK)
Jessica D'Avanza – Public Libraries
Julie Kliever – Academic Libraries
School Libraries / RILINK
Zach Berger (Member Services Librarian, RILINK - http://www.rilink.org )
http://guides.rilinkschools.org = LibGuides CMS for RILINK School Libraries
Within the LibGuides system, search “ebooks” to see the variety of resources in specific schools and school systems
Snapshot of RI School Library eBook Landscape:
eBooks in most school districts, but not all
2014 - used in 160+ schools: public, private, charter
RICAT - Follett Destiny software
customizable at the school level; matType limits
New Horizons?
eBooks - meaning for librarians :
Conducted eBook usage survey - April-June (2013)
RILINK members and RIEMA members -- SURVEY
Who's using eBooks now?--Elementary = 37 (27%)
Middle = 18 (50%)
High = 12 (58%)
Types of eBooks
Reference
Nonfiction: adult and juvenile
Literature: YA and Classic
How many eBooks? = 1 to 33K
(one school has ebrary subscription, but most = just a few)
Obstacles – -too many choices;
-no funding;
-rights management: what does this mean for student use?
-faculty restrictions (i.e. students required to have physical book in class)
Budgeting
TechAccess: service needs of special users
Lack of interest - students vs faculty
Need to focus on basics
– put things in hands of ALL students (no device needed)
MARC record links - goes to interface where student must re-execute a search (not 'ease of use')
Databases are fully searchable, so why spend $ on NonFiction /REF sources that are NOT fully searchable
FOLLETT Shelf -eBooks, audiobooks & DataBases (single use, single checkout)
RILINK keeps statistics on eBook holdings by level of school
ACADEMIC Libraries
Julie Kliever (Commons Librarian for Research, Education and Collections, Providence College)
1) eBooks at PC - vendors = ebrary/EBSCO/Credo
publishers = Wiley/GVRL
Platform proliferation is a problem for patrons
(different user interfaces can cause frustration)
2) Individual title purchases vs packages
3) Future of eBooks: access vs ownership
Rent everything? Why buy?
4) EBL: piloting patron driven acquisition; minus the acquisitions part (415K titles) -- own almost none currently (cost effective; browse and preview for free)-----ILL concerns
5) Short term circulations (pay per use) - pay fraction of purchase price
PUBLIC Libraries
Jessica D'Avanza (chair, EZone Committee/Ocean State Libraries (OSL); Community Services Librarian, Barrington Public Library)
eZONE (OSL) – subscribing since 2006, Overdrive (high cost);
Overdrive media stations purchased for state-wide “tour”:
TouchScreen monitors will travel every couple months around state PLs;
Bellows Kiosk (OLIS) for discovery by potential patrons outside a library context
Future non-library installations: airport? hospitals? malls?
no usage stats can be collected at present
Borrowing policies
ALL RI residents can access
Innovative says checkout will be able to take place through main catalog
Includes:
Project Gutenberg titles
Featured Collections (picked by librarians);
Streaming Video Collections.;
Book Award books - Kid; Teen
Simultaneous users not supported in Overdrive
40K titles in Collection (30K are eBooks)
Circulation up by 60% in a couple of years.
EBook circulation currently = about 10% of physical item circulation
Bestsellers - $85 for RandomHouse bestsellers --too much for level of use
Romance, Biography, Memoir, Cooking, History = very popular
Can upload local content, ie. local authors (still very small)
Kids page for Overdrive - safer (no Romance covers);
hand-picked by children's librarians in RI; subjects/areas too; larger covers; very colorful; platforms supported (not every one for every book)--Kindle-Overdrive-Adobe EPUB
HOLDS lists are long; multiple eCopies are pricey; license renewals;
$13 for Penguin bestsellers (getting cheaper)
Requests to purchase = 45-75/week
January (after Christmas) busiest time for use
Hachete; Macmillan will not sell to libraries
One copy ; one reader model is a problem
Lonely planet plan
(simultaneous users supported, but very small collection = 3 dozen titles)
Small collection of streaming music available
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