E-books - individual title purchases

From 2nd November 2009 libraries at Scottish Higher and Further Education institutes can purchase electronic books, under preferential terms, from the supplier platforms of three e-book aggregators.  A Framework Agreement for the supply of e-books has been awarded by APUC (Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges for Scotland) to the following library suppliers,

On receipt of a request for an e-book to be purchased library staff will make the decision about which supplier to place an order with. The operation of the Framework Agreement requires the order to be placed using the following process,

Search the suppliers’ databases to determine that,

1. The platform can provide the content required by searching on bibliographic data elements (e.g. ISBN, author, title, publisher, edition, date).
2. The platform can provide the access required by assessing the access options - single user, multiple concurrent access.

Library staff will then check for,

1. Procurement models available for elements of a work – chapter, page range and time-limited options (i.e. rental) for the work in question (if required).
2. The total price payable (inclusive of any applicable hosting fee and/or discount) for the ebook procurement model and access option required.

The order will be placed with the supplier that can fulfil the requirement at the lowest price.

Benefits of using the Framework Agreement

The Framework Agreement offers:

• Three suppliers from which the library can select the best value route for supply of their required e-book(s).
• No annual platform fees (therefore no barriers to access by institutions) - plus access arrangements at no cost for libraries with previously procured content from the successful suppliers.
• Fixed hosting fees for at least the first two years of the agreement that are lower than the suppliers’ standard hosting fee (between 10% and 4% lower).
• Agreed standard license terms with all three suppliers.
• Ongoing performance monitoring and contract management.

Orders for multiple print copies

Where multiple print copies of a book are requested library staff will check if the book is available as an e-book. They will let the library representative / recommender know the price of an electronic format copy and suggest that an e-book is purchased in place of multiple print copies.

Dawsonera
http://www.dawsonera.com/

• Purchased e-books are available on perpetual access.
• Many readers can read each e-book at the same time – multiple concurrent access.
• Short-term downloading from the collection to memory stick, laptop, etc. is possible.
• Each book comes with a set number of credits or uses, usually 325 or 400 per annum which are renewed on the anniversary of their purchase. To preserve the intellectual property rights of the publisher, usage cannot be infinite. So, the solution is to cap usage during a year for each copy owned. If usage approaches this "cap", the library will need to buy another copy to ensure continued access (as they would do with high demand printed books).
• The e-books are presented as PDF format and read using Adobe Reader.
• The e-books which are purchased are listed in the library catalogue. The catalogue record includes a direct URL link to the e-book.
• In line with the "fair dealing" rules of copyright protection a reader may print 5% of the book and copy 5% of the text - but no more than that.
• Dawsonera allows users a 5 minute preview of any e-book on the Dawsonera platform, not just those we have purchased.

MyiLibrary – Coutts Information Services

http://lib.myilibrary.com/ for access to titles currently available to University of Aberdeen staff and students
http://www.myilibrary.com/ for information about the platform and content

• E-books can be purchased for single (usually at similar price to hardback print copy) or multiple (3 concurrent users) user access (at higher cost)
• Many are in PDF format
• E-books can be viewed online from any PC connected to the Internet, or in some cases, downloaded to a PC or portable device.
• The e-books which are purchased are listed in the library catalogue. The catalogue record includes a direct URL link to the e-book.

EBL
http://www.eblib.com/

• Ebooks can be downloaded and read offline on a laptop or ebook reading device that supports Adobe Reader Digital Editions software.
• Non-linear-lending model allows the library to buy one copy of an ebook and lend it simultaneously to multiple users. All EBL titles enable multiple-concurrent access - there are no single user restrictions on any of the EBL titles.  325 loan instances are allowed per year on any one ‘copy’ of an e-book.
• A loan instance is defined as access by an individual user within a 24 hour period.
• Can print up to 20% of an e-book’s total content and can copy and past up to 5%
• EBL e-books have a free browse period of 5 minutes for non-owned books (10 minutes for owned books)
• The e-books which are purchased are listed in the library catalogue. The catalogue record includes a direct URL link to the e-book.