No Shelf Required: E‐books in Libraries

Citation

Lee Eden, B. (2012), "No Shelf Required: E‐books in Libraries", Collection Building, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 166-167. https://doi.org/10.1108/01604951211274098

One of the current hot topics in our profession is e‐books – not just the technology, but the purchase, delivery, mobile applications, copyright restrictions, sharing and ILL concerns, internal workflow, and whether users really access them. All of these concerns have yet to be resolved in an appropriate manner for the majority of libraries. This book attempts to provide some answers to these concerns, and at least inform decision‐making processes for those involved in collection development and technical services activities. The editor is well known for her blog about issues surrounding e‐books, and she has compiled an interesting collection of chapters and contributors to tackle this challenging new area of information delivery and content.

In the introduction the editor likens e‐books to a pomegranate: it is complicated, very different on the inside than on the outside, and its difficulty will often make one choose something more familiar. Chapter 1 provides a history of the evolution of the e‐book, examining the processes and approaches used to create web‐based e‐books. A number of projects are mentioned, ranging from the Internet Archive to Project Gutenberg and the International Children's Digital Library. The future of e‐books and their creative and commercial potential are also discussed in relation to the Google Books project.

Chapter 2 presents information on e‐books as an emerging tool for learning and reading instruction. The authors use Cambourne's eight principles of learning and the results of the National Reading Panel Report to illustrate how four e‐book subscription services contribute to the NRP Report's five areas of focus for reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Chapters 3‐5 discuss e‐book challenges in public, school and academic libraries, looking at issues such as acquisition, licensing, cataloging, and promotion. Statistics, access issues, and marketing are also addressed. Some case studies are presented in the public and academic library chapters.

Chapter 6 provides an in‐depth examination of purchasing e‐books, looking at business models, licensing, workflow models, management, and types of e‐books. Chapter 7 discusses the various methods of assessing e‐books and their use, from COUNTER and SUSHI standards to preservation models like LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and Portico programs. Chapter 8 provides an overview of e‐book standards like EPUB, digital rights management (DRM), ISBNs, and digital object identifiers (DOI). Newer standards such as the international standard text code (ISTC) and the Shared E‐Resource Understanding (SERU) are given some attention as well. Finally, chapter 9 looks at the future of academic publishing and the issues surrounding e‐books in some emerging models such as free access, pay‐per‐view, and chapter or article purchases. The impact of the e‐book reader on the publishing market is also considered.

This book was compiled in late 2009, so it is interesting that the publisher did not move faster to get this book on the market. It is timely information, and the e‐book environment is constantly changing and evolving, so this type of book and its information can become obsolete fairly quickly. Given that, it is still a great guide for any librarian wanting a quick guide to the issues and challenges surrounding the new and emerging format that is e‐books.