Dreaming big, going bold

1
Dreaming big, going bold

• Creating a shovel-ready e-book collection
  during a time of economic caution, confusion, and
  crisis

2
Whats it all about, PALCI?

• Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium
• Founded in 1996 with 35 members now 76 in
  Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and West Virginia
• Primary focus on resource-sharing (E-ZBorrow,
  RapidILL) and e-resources
• New emphases on cooperative collection
  management, disaster preparedness, et al.

3
Were are all mixed up

• State system, state-related, and independent
  institutions (76)
• ARLs, Oberlin Group schools, other consortia
• Very small to very large, under 100 FTE to more
  than 80,000 FTE
• 54 schools (71) have under 6,000 FTE
• Total FTE in excess of 500,000
• Well-to-do institutionsand not so well-to-do

4
Ready, aim, collect

• Create a consortium-wide e-book collection
• Do so at minimal cost to members
• Use grant funding from various sources
• Keep pace with student approaches to research
• Allow libraries to repurpose space
• Make it a library-focused collectionnot a
  vendor-determined collection

5
E-book buzz

• E-book talking Increased discussion of e-books
  and their use by academic libraries
• More e-books on the market
• Millennial revolutionmore internet, less
  print, please
• Were full upmaking room for less
• Its a Texas thang, yallUT System Digital
  Library, TexShare

6
Hey, kids, lets put on a survey

• Using SurveyMonkey, we surveyed PALCI library
  directors and collection development coordinators
  for 3 weeks in September 2008
• 150 persons were surveyed 71 responded
• Complete survey results
• PALCI website http//www.palci.org
• Click on Services tab
• Select Collection Management
• Scroll to E-Books

7
The survey says one thing . . .

• 53.8 of respondents stated that their
  institutions had 1 to 4 off-campus centers or
  multiple campuses
• 40.4 of respondents said their student
  population was nearly 100 residential
• 57.7 said that their institutions offered fewer
  than 25 of courses through distance education

8
Then another . . .

• 87.5 of respondents said their institutions
  already had an e-book collection
• 28.3 said that their collection had more than
  10,000 volumes
• 74.5 had NetLibrary books
• 51.1 had e-books from other sources (APA, Credo
  Reference, Gale, Springer, Sage, et al.)

9
The survey also says . . .

• 62.5 said they would be interested in a PALCI
  e-book collection
• 66.7 would like to see a collection that is
  purchased/owned with annual maintenance
• What would they be willing to pay?
• One time--2,000 to 20,000
• Annually--100 to 5,000

10
All over the map

• Top choices for collection content
• Reference (80.0)
• Computer science (63.3)
• Core works (e.g., RCL) (60.0)
• STM (53.3)
• Business (46.7)
• Education (46.7)
• Social sciences (43.3)

11
Obstacles and opportunities

• Global economic crisis
• State budget crisis
• College and university budget crises
• Pennsylvania (and New Jersey) Knowledge
  Initiative
• Lyrasis merger
• E-ZBorrow migration/other PALCI cooperative
  endeavors
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

12
Where to now? First steps

• Currently investigating collections large and
  small from various vendors
• Reference, subject-specific, EBL, MyILibrary,
  eBrary Academic Complete, et al.
• Offering collections for subscription/purchase to
  individual libraries
• Facilitating selection through approval vendors
• Request for proposal for ideal e-book collection

13
Keep on walkin

• Consortial purchase of e-book collection
• Smaller, subject-specific collections
• Maintenance paid for by members
• Part of dues?
• Or an added charge? Based on what?
• FTE?
• Use?
• Some combination of both?
• Investigate funding sources

14
Are we there yet?

• Deposit account for purchases
• Both library- and patron-driven
• Create a profile, limiting to specific publishers
  and parameters (e.g., university, STM)
• Realistically grant-fundable?
• ILL entire book (at least inside the consortium)
• An E-Z solution to maintenance?

15
Other paths

• Buy an e-book platform (eBrary)
• Follow OCUL model
• Discrete purchase
• Annual maintenance?
• Requires advanced technical support
• Open source?
• MARC records or a searchable target
• Would all collections be able to use this
  platform?

16
Playing to strengths

• Pennsylvania Digital Library replacement?
• Accessory to Access Pennsylvania Digital
  Repository?
• PALINET/Lyrasis mass digitization effort
• Million Books project
• University of Pittsburgh Press digital editions
• Possible LOCKSS connection
• But do we gain enough from the effort?

17
Lets keep exploring . . .

• Another idea An e-book reader pilot project
• Group purchase of e-book readers for 1 or more
  member libraries
• Provide textbooks let students, libraries,
  select additional content
• Fund e-book service for a period of time
• See what gets used, by whom, and how

18
Or should we simply go home?

• Use grant funds to support depleted book budgets
• A discrete purchase . . .
• And one benefitting the publishing industry, not
  just a few large vendors . . .
• But not a very sexy investment
• And doesnt help with library space needs
• But could be done (fairly) quickly!

19
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• ALA identifies specific ARRA funding for
  libraries
• National Endowment for the Arts (50m US)
• Title I (Department of Education) (13b US)
• Enhancing Education through Technology (650m US)
• Broadband/telecommunications (7.2b US)
• State fiscal stabilization (53.6b US)

20
Dollars and sense

• Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
• Mission Create strong libraries and museums
  that connect people to information and ideas
• Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA)
• Part of IMLS but administered by states
• Philanthropic sources (Pennsylvania connections)
• Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Meeting the challenges aheadK-16 education,
  science and math education
• Mellon Foundation
• Higher education, information technology,
  scholarly communication

21
What do you think?

• Which approach would be most easily
  grant-fundable?
• Which approach would be of the most benefit to
  libraries and their users?
• How do we deal with ongoing maintenance?
• How do we make maintenance fair?
• Could e-books become E-ZBorrow 3.0?
• Will the Pens finally take the Stanley Cup this
  year?

22
Lets talk

• John Barnett
• Assistant Director, PALCI
• Room 333, 7500 Thomas Blvd.
• Pittsburgh, PA 15208 USA
• [phone] (voice)
• barnett_at_palci.org OR jhb23_at_pitt.edu
• http//www.palci.org