Further Reading
JISC e-books working group reports
For many years, librarians with an interest in the area of e-books met to discuss and inform JISC Collections on the acquisition and develop of e-books in education. When the JISC e-books working group was first formed, there was little knowledge or information available on the e-books landscape, not just in terms of the supply chain, but on how e-books could shape learning, teaching and research. The e-books working group sought to resolve this by commissioning a wide range of studies to provide librarians, publishers and JISC Collections with critical information upon which to develop strategies for the acquisition and licensing of e-books. The reports from the studies are available below:
A feasibility study on the acquisition of e-books by HE libraries and the role of JISC Collections
October 2006, The Higher Education Consultancy Group
This report explored the e-books landscape in 2006 and looked at the challenges and barriers facing HE libraries, publishers and JISC Collections in acquiring e-books. It makes recommendations on how JISC should proceed to help libraries in providing e-textbooks to the their students. The report identified 8 key action points and was instrumental in the formation of the JISC national e-books observatory project.
Testbed for the Interoperability of Metadata for E-books (TIME)
April 2006, Rightscom Ltd
This study developed a testbed to help provide a solution to one of the key challenges identified for the take-up of e-books: the lack of standardised e-book catalogue records and also the lack of interoperability between different e-book metadata records.
An investigation into free e-books
March 2004, Ylva Berglund, Alan Morrison, Rowan Wilson and Martin Wynne
This study, undertaken by AHDS, informed the e-books working group on the availability of free e-books for teaching and learning. The study gathered information on what free e-books were available, the formats of these free e-book, usage of the free e-books in education and the needs and attitudes of FE and HE users in the arts and humanities subject area.
A Strategy and Vision for the Future for Electronic Textbooks in UK Further and Higher Education
August 2003, Education for Change Ltd, University of Stirling Centre for Publishing Studies & University of Stirling Information
This study took an in-depth look at e-textbook landscape, exploring the challenges and barriers to the adoption of e-textbooks in HE and FE. Despite being undertaken in 2003, this report includes a wealth of information on business models, promotional models and supply chain models that are still of relevance today. The report was used by the e-books working group to help develop its vision foe e-textbooks in education.
Promoting the Uptake of E-Books in Higher and Further Education
August 2003, Gold Leaf
This report highlighted the barriers that institutions were facing in the uptake of e-books and made recommendations on how these could be removed and how e-books could be promoted more fully by a wider range of institutions and individuals. This report is still relevant today.
The E-book Mapping Exercise
April 2003, Chris Armstrong and Ray Lonsdale of Information Automation Ltd
The aim of the mapping exercise was to inform the JISC e-books working group on the e-book needs of specific disciplines within Further Education and Higher Education. This report details the findings of the exercise.
Shaping a strategy for e-books: An issue paper
2001, Hazel Woodward and Louise Edwards
This paper set out the issues that the JISC e-books working group needed to consider in 2001 when developing one of their first strategies for e-books within UK higher and further education.