A Web‐based electronic book (e‐book) library: the netLibrary model
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830110411961 |
| Date | 01 December 2001 |
| Published date | 01 December 2001 |
| Pages | 340-349 |
| Author | Lynn Silipigni Connaway |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
A Web-based electronic
book (e-book) library:
the netLibrary model
Lynn Silipigni Connaway
Introduction
The e-book market is growing. ``Nearly one in
every three of LJ public library respondents
have purchased electronic books (e-books), and
of those who have not, nearly one in three say
they will purchase e-books within the year''
(Hoffert, 2001).
According to the Forrester report, Books
Unbound, released in December 2000, e-books
are being adopted and proven as a viable
product. Scholarly and reference books are
projected to create a solid base for e-book
content. Custom print on-demand publishing
may well dominate small-audience books. The
ability to download textbook content from Web
sites is expected to sweep through the textbook
markets, and will suppress the used textbook
market. E-books and e-book reader devices are
expected to succeed in niches and genre fiction
will provide the largest market for the e-book
reader devices. These trends are predicted to
drive $4.1 billion in new sales and $7.8 billion
in total sales in 2005. The projected sales for
e-books equal $1 out of every $6 that
consumers will spend on books (O'Brien, 2000)
(see Figure 1).
Some believe that e-book adoption is
currently where e-journal adoption was three
years ago. Carol Hansen Montgomery, Dean of
Libraries at Drexel University, believes that the
e-book market will experience the same kind of
adoption as the electronic journal market, but
possibly at a slower pace. Hansen Montgomery
states: ``It's (e-book access) certainly what our
students want. They want their information
electronically, period'' (Hogan, 2001).
Book circulation in research libraries is
reported to have decreased between 20 and
30percentinthepastfewyears.Somebelieve
that library users secure the paper book as a
last resort, preferring electronic content for
research, therefore attributing the decline in
book circulation to the availability of library
resources in electronic format (Hogan,
2001).
Elements important to e-books
The e-book task force for the Un iversity of
California digital libr ary identified eight
The author
Lynn Silipigni Connaway is Vice President, Research and
Library Systems at netLibrary, Inc., Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Keywords
Electronic publishing, Academic libraries
Abstract
Despite some skepticism about the adoption of electronic
books (e-books) in libraries, there has been substantial
growth in e-book acquisitions and usage. The e-book task
force for the University of California digital library identified
eight elements that are important to the evaluation of
academic e-book usage. The elements are: content, software
and hardware standards and protocols, digital rights
management, access, archiving, privacy, the market and
pricing, and enhancements and ideal e-book features. There
are currently several e-book models available to libraries
that can be assessed and described in relation to the above-
mentioned elements or criteria. Using these elements, the
netLibrary e-book model will be described.
Electronic access
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
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340
Library Hi Tech
Volume 19 .Number 4 .2001 .pp. 340±349
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0737-8831
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