eBook Acquisitions

Hi All,

I've responded to some of you , individually, but Eleanor has informed
me that there is much interest in this topic.  I apologize for the delay
in responding.  Budget time-need I say more :-)?

Overwhelmingly, the responses I received showed consensus that acquiring
ebooks via a vendor is preferable to dealing with individual publishers
and aggregators.  Seems like each ebook provider does things a bit
differently, especially when it comes to the issue of hosting fees, so
having a central agency to help you maneuver that maze and manage things
once your various accounts are established, is a real benefit.

I see that a YBP rep reported that my statement regarding special offers
was mistaken.  I've talked with my Gale rep about this, at length.
While YBP does seem to have an exclusive deal with Gale, it doesn't hurt
to check with your ebook vendor before ordering from either, when
special offers are presented.  There may be times when the vendor cannot
honor the offer.  That true for acquisitions in general.    

I just placed an order for my first title yesterday.  Although we do
EDIFACT ordering, via Millennium, with most of our vendors, I've decided
to use YBP's GOBI system for ebook orders.  It was not difficult, at
all, but definitely more time consuming, probably because it was my
first time :-).  I'm taking it one title at a time, at this point, until
I can establish a routine, but can foresee that we might move into
ordering ebook packages in the future.

Following are 2 responses that are pretty representative of the
responses I received.  I've included the respondents' contact info, in
case you'd like to contact them directly (Marynelle and Andrew, I hope
you don't mind):

We buy individual front list titles through YBP for ebrary & EBL. Gale
titles can also be purchased through YBP, although we're not set up for
it yet. Sometimes we buy NetLibrary ebooks through YBP; however, the
NetLibrary model and platform is not our favorite. 

I have purchased subject sets directly from NetLibrary; however, with
the change to Ebsco, things are in disarray. I've been trying to buy two
audio books for over two weeks now. Unfortunately, audio books aren't
listed at YBP.

Additionally, we buy collection sets and single titles (when available)
from Oxford, Palgrave, Gale (GVRL), and we will soon be adding Cambridge
titles. Each platform has pros and cons as far as patrons go.

If you'd like more information about our work-arounds, I'd be happy to
discuss it with you. We are a YBP library and we use SirsiDynix Symphony
for our ILS.

Thank you for your assistance.
 
Marynelle
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Marynelle Chew
Head, Technical Services
Joseph F. Smith Library
Brigham Young University-Hawaii
55-220 Kulanui St. #1966
Laie, HI  96762

************************************************************************

The CTW (Connecticut College, Trinity College and Wesleyan University)
consortium started an e-book project earlier this year.  MyiLibrary
(from Coutts) is the vendor and we're using their patron-driven
acquisition model.  The three of us already do quite a bit of sharing
print books, so e-books seemed like a natural next step.  Coutts treats
the three of us like one institution, so any book that gets purchased by
one school becomes available at the other two as well. 

We're still in the early stages, so there's not a lot to report about
the results yet, but we hope to present at Charleston this fall about
it.  I'd be happy to answer follow up questions off-list if you like.

 - Andrew (wearing his Wesleyan collection development coordinator hat)


--
Andrew Wick Klein
Science Librarian
Wesleyan University
265 Church St
Middletown, CT 06459
(860) 685-3714
aklein01_at_wesleyan.edu

 I hope this helps.--Lcj

Laverne C. Jenkins , MLS
Technical Services Librarian
Cuyahoga Community College 
Library Technical Services  
2900 Community College Avenue, MSS507
Cleveland, OH 44115 -3123
Voice: (216) 987-3437
Fax:  216-987-3352
Email:  laverne.jenkins_at_tri-c.edu 
  
  




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