Dawn,
For years I have asked major e-book aggregators to allow/secure the
right for libraries to have at least residual e-ownership/e-access
rights with source publishers, especially since as a rule the
larger/better publishers typically participate in e-archiving via
Portico. Aggregators invariably ignore such requests, presumably because
they have no interest in doing so and do not feel pressure from enough
librarians to reconsider.
As for purchasing preferences, UNC Chapel Hill Libraries invariably
prefer to acquire e-books directly from publishers rather than
aggregators, because the former represent much greater value. Although
the standard e-book list price when purchased on a title-by-title basis
is typically congruent with that of the hardback print version—but
without any vendor discount for libraries—regardless of publisher or
aggregator, buying directly from publishers typically defaults to
unlimited simultaneous users at no additional cost, imposes few if any
DRM restrictions, often provides for e-archiving via Portico, and can
result in additional benefits such as free alumni access. (For more
detailed information, I will send upon request a copy of the UNC
University Library E-Books Platforms Recommendations & E-books
Collections Strategy.) Consequently, we buy e-books from aggregators
only when we have to and no publisher option exists. As a result, titles
from the major general aggregators represent >3% of the >1M cataloged
e-books in campus libraries’ collections.
Within this context of value and user-focused utility, UNC has not
joined the stampede to demand-/patron-driven acquisitions in large
measure because the only options currently available consist of
aggregator-supplied e-books. At Chapel Hill we do not consider
aggregator DDA/PDA models a panacea—much less a substitute for an
e-books strategy; rather, they are a potential niche component of a
larger collections plan. Consequently, in planning for a potential
DDA/PDA, UNC envisions relying on aggregators to supply e-books from
small, marginal, and generally less expensive publishers while
continuing to buy directly from publishers whenever possible. And we
plan to implement a DDA/PDA model consortially—which parallels our
approach to buying e-books directly from publishers—so as to get better
value from these lower preference e-books providers.
This point brings me back to the subject header of your post: “e-book
acquisitions: aggregate vs. publisher purchase”. The wording reflects
the situation typical libraries are stuck with at present. In my view,
what librarians and their users need is “publishers with aggregator
purchase”—with the latter relevant only if necessary when better options
do not exist. If we want to move beyond this unfortunate current
dichotomy, librarians need to pressure publishers to develop platforms
that allow for selling their e-books on a title-by-title basis directly
or via DDA/PDA models. And, if they are too small do so on their own,
publishers need to be encouraged to achieve integration with major book
vendors, with latter developing their own DDA/PDA models that include
both aggregators and publishers and with algorithms that ensure the
publisher versions are bought before the aggregator ones.
DDA/PDA models that include both publishers and aggregators require that
the former develop the following functionalities to work with major book
vendors:
• Provide files of titles that can be made available for discovery;
• Activate titles for viewing that have not yet been purchased by the
library;
• Manage automatic purchases (and possibly even short-term loans), and
be able to pass that financial information back to the vendor.
Such capabilities are not simple, although perhaps the major book
vendors themselves could be more proactive in creating these
functionalities for publishers. In my view librarians need to urge
publishers and vendors to move in this direction if we want to have good
options for acquiring e-books.
Luke Swindler
*******************************************************************************
Luke Swindler Coordinator of General Collections
Davis Library CB #3918 swindler_at_email.unc.edu
University of North Carolina TEL (919-962-1095)
Chapel Hill, NC 27514 USA FAX (919-962-4450)
*************************************************“*****************************
"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Jul 26, 2012, at 9:06 AM, <acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org>
<acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:
Hello.
Has anyone discovered that if an e-book monograph is purchased through
an aggregate service, like EBL, ebrary or EBSCO, that you are also
granted access to the content on the publisher's platform (assuming the
title has not also been purchased directly from the publisher)? When a
title is available for purchase through either an aggregate service or
directly from the publisher, do your librarians/selectors/users have a
preference? Thank you for any input.
--
Dawn Rapoza
Head, Electronic Resources & Serials Unit
Lauinger Library
Georgetown University
202-687-0774
des57_at_georgetown.edu
_______________________________________________
ACQNET-L mailing list
ACQNET-L_at_lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/acqnet-l
Received on Tue Aug 14 2012 - 17:54:48 EDT