E-books in Welsh Public Libraries
Fri, 25 Nov 2011
A study titled 'E-books in Welsh Public Libraries' was published earlier this year. The study, which was funded by CyMAL and the National Library of Wales, had five aims, which were to investigate:
- the provision and use of commercial and free e-book collections in public library authorities;
- the perceptions and challenges faced by libraries in planning for e-collection development;
- the costing and business models of a range of e-book suppliers;
- the major collection management, access, and promotion issues associated with e-books;
- and to inform library authorities of current practice and likely changes to e-book suppliers’ business models, including the possibilities afforded by consortial purchase.
Key quotes from the study
- "The advantages of e-book collections listed by librarians include facilitating remote and continuous access, improving the users’ perceptions of the public library, reaching new audiences, space saving, multimedia and interactivity."
- "The challenges centred on problems associated with the nature of the e-book publishing market, financial sustainability, staffing, and issues associated with collection management and promotion. These responses were realistic and reflected closely the perceptions and experience of their colleagues in UK academic libraries."
- "There was an overwhelmingly positive response to the idea of an e-book consortium from both holding and non-holding authorities that perceived a range of advantages but few disadvantages."
Copies of the the full study may be obtained by contacting the Library Wales website.
