Please do not hesitate to contact your librarian with feedback, or if UQ Library may be of further assistance.

UQ Library's e-Preferred Policy

UQ Library has an e-preferred collection development policy. It acquires resources (such as bibliographic indexes, books and journals) in electronic format, where possible.

The policy recognises advantages gained through digital formats, which may include:

• 24/7 access
• remote access
• simultaneous multi-user access
• download to portable devices
• citation export management
• enhanced searchability
• multimedia
• online note keeping
• accessibility enhancements for screen impaired patrons
• fast acquisition and availability response times
• no wear and tear
• minimised incidence of content loss (pages, whole book).

The ebook marketplace is young and rapidly evolving. It is around 10 years behind electronic journals. UQ Library acknowledges that not all subject areas are suited to electronic formats. Also, not all patrons find digital versions appropriate, at all times.

As such, patrons may still request the purchase of materials in print. Your librarian will investigate the request, and if appropriate, discuss options and issues with you.

The disadvantages of ebooks can outweigh the benefits:

• user lockouts due to licencing limitations, publisher site maintenance, usage breaches, remote IT access issues
• varied quality of images
• inadequacy of page referencing
• 'extended book' model of digital non-equivalency, where the electronic version does not equate to the print
• changed mental model: unable to have multiple books open to dip into on desk/bed/other study surface
• in some cases, need to download ebook reader program in order to access content
• no on-selling
• different rights/usage models used by each publisher or platform.

E-Textbook Basics

UQ Library promotes the incorporation of electronic textbooks by academics into teaching and learning. In addition to the advantages listed above, e-textbooks generally come with features not available to print equivalents:

• assessments, such as quizzes
• lecture slides
• social media channels, facilitating student interaction

What is not widely known in academic communities is that publishers generally do not make these features available for purchase by libraries.

More importantly, many publishers do not licence (i.e. sell) e-textbooks to libraries. They are sold to individuals only.

Those that do sell to libraries charge per enrolled student, making the cost prohibitive within library budgets.

If libraries were to buy e-textbooks for selected courses only, its role in assuring equity in access for students may be compromised (in keeping with Higher Education Support Act 2003 Guidelines, covered in UQ' s Policy and Procedure Library procedure 30.40.02; and referenced in UQ Library's Collection Development Policy).

In addition, such extension of library-provided textbook access to all students would cause a paradigm shift: UQ Library's print textbook purchase ratio is 1 book per subject plus 1 additional book per every 50 students.

Funding e-textbook access for every student in a course would mark a fundamental change in Library service levels.

In April 2012, UQ Library presented to the UQ elearning Operational Forum, on e-textbooks (1.56 MB).

In May 2012, IFLA (the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) produced a background paper on ebook lending. It speaks to issues addressed on this page.

The Library has compiled the following Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which it hopes will guide academics pursuing the inclusion of e-textbooks in their curriculum.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is an e-textbook?

E-textbooks are a subset of the ebook format. E-textbooks are written for students, published for use by educational institutions. They cover core course content. This contrasts with ebooks bought by the Library that support research, or to supplement the learning experience.

Until recently, e-textbooks have been digital equivalents of printed books offered by campus booksellers, listed on course reading lists. There is an increasing trend for e-textbooks to be born digital, and to not be released in print.

Where publishers have sold multiple copies of print equivalents, it can be guaranteed that the digital version will be deemed an e-textbook. This protects the publisher's revenue stream, with sales keeping use at 1:1, not 1:M (many) as facilitated by library lending.

What's the difference between putting an ebook, versus an e-textbook, on a reading list?

It is the publisher or vendor that deems the books status. A title's status as ebook versus e-textbook will determine whether:

• libraries are able to buy it
• how much of its content they will be able to buy (e.g. the assessment components?)
• if it will be available for sale to individuals only.

This has implications for students:

• can they rely on access via the Library?
• must each student purchase access?

If through the Library, considerations include:

• is access limited to one person at a time - and how long are others locked out (1 day, 3 days, 14 days?)
• is content complete?
• how much may be printed or downloaded within a stated period?

Some publishers or vendors generate unique user IDs the first time a reader accesses a title. They are thus able to track and block the amount of reading, printing and downloading performed by that user.

So, an e-textbook differs from an ebook at the publisher's discretion. As described earlier, an e-textbook is often defined by its print equivalent status, or by the publisher's assessment of its application to teaching. If a publisher representative partnering with an academic has one of their titles listed as required reading on a course profile, that title will be deemed an e-textbook. This preserves the sales/usage ratio of 1:1, rather than 1:M (many).

Do publishers partner with libraries with respect to e-textbooks?

In UQ Library's experience: no, they do not. This is also reported by other Council of Australian University Librarians members.

E-textbook publisher representatives do not contact UQ Library. They deal directly with academics.

UQ Library usually learns of these partnerships when students fail to locate the e-textbook in the library catalogue.

So all ebooks listed on course profiles are classified by publishers as e-textbooks?

Usually; however, there are exceptions. An illustration:

Lecturers may not wish to use an existing e-textbook, or may not find suitable e-textbooks on offer when the area is emerging. They may choose an ebook assessed by publishers to have limited application to teaching. Instead, it may be deemed to be better suited to research, and thus having a lower sales volume. The academic may be the only one to use the title in their area.

If the student cohort is low, the publisher's revenue stream will not diminish (it may even increase). It is unlikely that the title would be reclassified as an e-textbook. A sales/usage ratio of 1:M can be offered.

However, the Library has encountered instances where spikes in ebook usage has brought titles to the attention of publishers or vendors, and those titles have been withdrawn from collections subscribed to or leased by the Library. They later appear as e-textbooks available for purchase by individuals only.

Leased collections? Doesn't the Library purchase all its ebooks?

No. UQ Library acquires access to ebooks by three means:

• annual subscription or lease
• outright purchase
• seamless Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA).

With the PDA model, titles appear in the catalogue, and are triggered for purchase or short term loan by the patrons through:

• opening the ebook, or a certain number of its pages
• downloading
• printing
• saving.

The reader is not aware that they have triggered a financial transaction.

Can I bank on an ebook access remaining throughout the year, or into the next year?

Yes: if the title has been purchased by UQ Library.

No: if the title belongs to a package subscribed to or leased by UQ Library via a third party.

How can I tell if an ebook/e-textbook is purchased or subscribed/leased?

Check the title on the UQ Library catalogue.

UQ Library's leased (subscribed) services include: AccessMedicine, Knovel, and MDConsult. There is no permanent access to these titles.

The Library also subscribes to, and purchases titles from, third party aggregators, such as Ebook Library (EBL), ebrary, and EBSCOhost. These titles may appear/disappear at the publisher/aggregator's discretion.

UQ Library purchases subject collections, or entire year collections from publishers. These include Springer, Wiley, ScienceDirect, OUP, and CSIRO. A more comprehensive list of publishers can be viewed. The availability of ebooks from purchased collections is stable over time, and are recommended by UQ Library for listing in Course Profiles.

Why is access to some ebooks limited? This disadvantages students accessing required readings

Publishers set the terms of access, not libraries.

Ebooks bought outright from publishers versus third party vendors have more flexible digital rights management conditions. Typically, purchased ebooks offer:

• unlimited, simultaneous access by multiple users
• full download to portable devices
• unlimited printing/copying.

Ebooks leased or purchased from third party vendors come with varied and stringent conditions. Each publisher has their own menu. These may include:

• limited number of uses per year by library patrons - e.g. 325 uses, before an additional licence must be purchased. Here, a 14 day loan = 14 uses
• limited amount of printing, copying or downloading - e.g. 20% of the total, or one chapter (whichever is smaller)
• no downloading to portable devices
• single, short term use, where other users are locked out until 1, 3 or 14 days have elapsed
• one to three simultaneous users, where other users are locked out until a 'seat' is vacated.

Can libraries purchase copies of customised, mashed-up e-textbooks? i.e. where academics partner with a publisher to choose chapters from a selection of books, presented as a single 'text' for their subject

No. These "Frankenbooks" can only be purchased by individuals.

What questions should I be asking publishers' representatives who approach me with e-textbook deals?

Though not an exhaustible list, UQ Library suggests the following:

• Is the assessment module customisable?
• Can my own assessments be included?
• Is it Blackboard compatible?
• Is access purchased or leased by students?
• What is the cost relative to the print equivalent? 30%, 50%?

What are overseas academic institutions doing in regards to e-textbooks?

Trials are being undertaken by publishers partnering with academic institutions. Usually not with their libraries, rather with their faculties and schools. Other trials are with course content management providers such as Blackboard.

Examples:

Blackboard announced an e-textbook deal with four major textbook providers, through CourseSmart (not available as yet in Australia)---Cengage, Macmillan, Pearson, and John Wiley & Sons. Blackboard also has a relationship with McGraw-Hill.

AcademicPub - a new US build-your-own-textbook service: see New Digital Tools Let Professors Tailor Their Own Textbooks for Under $20, The Chronicle of Higher Education (Oct 9th 2011).

Other models:

Nature Publishing Group has launched a new model - an e-textbook for life. The Principles of Biology is a born digital, customisable, 'interactive textbook', with a price point of US$49.

Overseas studies:

Results from an extensive study were published by JISC (formerly, the Joint Information Systems Committee) in 2009. The UK JISC National e-Book Observatory, investigated how users discover and navigate through e-books, exploring the attitudes of academics and students and assessing the impact of making course text e-books available via university libraries to thousands of students on print sales. 120 universities were involved, and survey responses were collected from over 52,000 students and academics; 36 course e-textbooks were used.

Major players in non-academia:

OverDrive: a major distributor of eBook, audiobook, video, and music titles to the public library market, including the Brisbane City Council (search catalogue).

Updated: August 2012