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SPEC Kit 313: E-book Collections · 19
Survey Questions And Responses
The SPEC survey on E-book Collections was designed by Catherine Anson, Director of Sponsored Research,
and Ruth R. Connell, Head, Collection Management and Systems Administration, John Carroll University.
These results are based on data submitted by 75 of the 123 ARL member libraries (61%) by the deadline of
May 8, 2009. The survey’s introductory text and questions are reproduced below, followed by the response
data and selected comments from the respondents.
Several factors are coming together heralding a wider acceptance of e-books in an academic setting. The open access journal
movement, Google Scholar, Project Gutenberg, and increasingly competitive e-book prices may encourage many libraries and
their users to adopt e-books. According to a 2008 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, 69% of university research
libraries plan to increase spending on e-books over the next two years with a higher rate for non-US libraries. Comments to the
article highlight some of the obstacles faced by libraries: user unfamiliarity with e-books, an anti e-book sentiment, and a fear of
library obsolescence. This discussion reflects the debate on Amazon’s Kindle Forum and other Internet boards over e-books versus
print books, the best e-reader/format, and publishers’ digital rights management. However, users are increasingly accustomed
to and expect immediate access to materials and are comfortable with electronic formats thus making an e-book collection
attractive to an academic library and its clientele.
In addition to traditionally printed matter, publishers have been offering a variety of formats to libraries throughout the years:
microcard, microfiche, compact discs. E-books may be more than just the next step in formats that mimic but can’t compare
to print materials. Usability statistics may recognize that e-books are being used differently than print book collections, with
separate and distinct use, users, and management issues as compared to the physical print collection. However, restrictive and
non-standard vendor agreements may make it difficult for academic libraries to build e-book collections.
For the purposes of this survey, the term e-book is defined as: An electronic text publication, excluding journal publications and
textbooks, made available for any device (handheld or desk-bound) that includes a screen.*Modified from the definition proposed by Chris
Armstrong, Louise Edwards, and Ray Lonsdale in “Virtually There? E-books in UK Academic Libraries,” Program—Electronic Library and Information Systems 36,
no. 4 (2002): 216–27. E-version: http://eprints.rclis.org/5987/ p 2.
Therefore, e-books can be read online or downloaded in various formats (epub, pdf, mobi, etc.) to be read on various devices
(cell phones, PDAs, dedicated readers, tablet PCs, laptops, etc.). Works can be born digital, turned digital from print, released
simultaneously in digital and print, or any similar combination. E-books can be free, purchased singly, purchased as a package, or
leased.
This survey is designed to examine the current use of e-books in ARL member libraries their plans for implementing, increasing,
or decreasing access to e-books purchasing, cataloging, and collection management issues and issues in marketing to and in
usage by library clientele.

SPEC Kit 313: E-book Collections · 17
Conclusion
Libraries are changing. The publishing industry is
changing. Patrons are changing and expecting more
and different things from their libraries. “The Global
Reading Room: Libraries in the Digital Age” states
“the role of libraries is becoming more important and
more far-reaching than ever” and “though their mis-
sion remains unchanged, libraries are rethinking their
collections, services, spaces, and opportunities for
pooling resources.” The line between collection de-
velopment and acquisitions is blurring. Librarians are
communicating with patrons through instant messag-
ing and twittering. Some libraries provide print-on-
demand machines. Budgets are decreasing with the
current economic crisis and libraries are looking at
ways to maximize their collection development funds.
And while the Library of Congress reports that their
Copyright Office currently defines print as the “best
edition format,” this is being revisited.
Libraries are facing both internal and external
factors in developing and maintaining e-book col-
lections. With change, however, comes denial and
pockets of resistance. Librarians and library staff can
lobby for new policies and procedures and increase
communication among departments. Library admin-
istrators can leverage internal change by encourag-
ing new workflows and can significantly impact the
building of a new business model with publishers and
aggregators to manage external factors.
The last comment of the survey sums up the over-
all conclusion of this SPEC Kit:
Well, good luck with all of this. It seems libraries
are all over place with e-books and some are very
aggressively trying to acquire while others appear to
be sticking their heads in the sand and pretending
it doesn’t exist. Libraries, librarians, and publishers
should all be working harder in this place to help
shape the model and the future of all of this. Hon-
estly it makes my skin crawl when libraries suggest
that e-books should be purchased and/or operate like
print models. If we are just trying to recreate the
print model here, then I’m not sure I understand the
point. The reality is that nothing in academic librar-
ies is going to be what it used to be, and so many
libraries are clinging to that without realizing that
the war has already been lost.