Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the management of e-books in Cambridge University Library (CUL). This will be achieved by exploring the issues associated with the three main stages of the management process: acquisition, access and promotion. A case study of CUL will be built in order to provide insight into practice of dealing with the issues associated with e-books. In order to obtain a comprehensive picture of the management of e-books in academic libraries a literature review focussing on the stages of acquisition, access and promotion was conducted. In discovering the issues experienced, semi-structured interviews were employed at CUL and later compared to the findings from the literature.The study looked at the ebooks@cambridge service, which administers ebooks for undergraduate students, and the UL Acquisition department, which manages e-books for research. It was found that they both experience similar challenges in terms of acquisition, access and promotion. In terms of acquisition - the challenges are: lack of a formal CDP (Collection Development Policy), availability of titles, choice between suppliers and publishers, and the vast range of acquisition models available. In acquiring e-books for research purpose there is an obvious shift towards DDA (Demand Driven Acquisition) model, while the ebooks@cambridge service is currently using traditional models and testing potential new ones including PDA (Patron Driven Acquisition) and EBA (Evidence Based Acquisition). The input of e-legal deposit is playing an important role and is expected to grow, although there are problems such as restricted access in particular. In terms of access, problems with the variety of platforms and DRM (Digital Rights Management) restrictions are emphasised. The importance of the library catalogue, equally as an access point and a promotional tool, is significant. A lot of effort is put into promoting ebook collections using traditional methods and new ones such as social media, whilst providing training for both library staff and library users was proved to be an effective method in increasing e-book usage. In order to simplify the acquisition process an e-book collection CDP would be helpful, whilst the input of legal deposit needs to be monitored closely. This is the area where more research needs to be done in the future so a clearer picture of its impact on the collection can be constructed. With further collaboration with the British Library (BL) and other legal deposit libraries, access to e-legal deposit could be improved. Collaboration with publishers and vendors across all e-book collections could improve the quality of received records and the usability of platforms. It was also suggested that collaboration with academics could have a positive impact on e-books usage amongst students.
| Date of Award | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Supervisor | Raymond Lonsdale (Supervisor) |