Building and Managing E-Book Collections

Book excerpt: Are you looking for a best practices guide to developing policies and procedures for acquisition, purchase, collection development, cataloging, and retention of e-books? Beginning with a short history of e-books and a review of the e- book publishing industry and its effect on library's selection and budget process, this how-to provides a thorough treatment of collection development issues, including the selection process and development policies, the use of approval plans, patron-driven acquisition, and practical solutions for creating your e-book collection policies. Chapters on budgeting and licensing covers ownership versus leasing models, the differences in licensing options from the major publishers and aggregators including information on digital rights management, and strategies for success in retention, access, and budgeting. The cataloging and selection chapters are the largest in the book. The "selecting e-books" chapter discusses: * e-book purchasing models * file formats and publisher/aggregator e-book platforms8 * an examination of display devices (e-readers) The technical and access services section gives you: * Best practices in cataloging e-books to include metadata. * Insight on incorporating value added features such as adding excerpts from the text, book covers, and links to related resources. * Guidance on library web page and online catalog access. * Assessment and evaluation strategies through circulation statistics, print collection selection and usage, and user satisfaction. You'll also gain valuable insight on the e-book's impact on the publishing industry, scholarly communication, and its integration into future technologies and social media. Offering multiple perspectives from electronic resource professionals at world-renowned libraries such as Harvard, the University of Michigan, Duke, and Northeastern, this book provides a comprehensive and well-rounded e-book education. Success stories highlight ea