E-books in academic libraries: an international overview

Abstract

This paper provides a broad and general international overview of ebooks in academic libraries. The inconsistent terminology relating to ebooks is noted in the first section and a brief history of ebooks and some current definitions are given. The stakeholders within the ebook industry are described with details of some of the services offered. For users and staff in library and information services ebooks can provide a variety of advantages as well as challenges and these are outlined for those in academic libraries. Findings from various studies on ebooks are given and some of the issues involved in managing ebooks in academic libraries are described. Finally an overview is presented of the eBooks Working Group in the UK. The paper is illustrated with a number of screenshots related to ebooks in academic libraries in various parts of the world.