In 2007 the JISC national e-books
observatory project was set up to undertake market research to help
e-book publishers, aggregators, libraries and funding bodies understand
the behaviours of e-book users and to assess the impact of free
at-the-point of use course text e-books on traditional print sales to
students. The huge amount of empirical data gathered through the
Observatory project will help all of us to take informed decisions based
on real evidence rather than assumptions. The data is available for all
to use and we hope that by sharing the data, we encourage further
collaboration and the development of new ideas and solutions that meet
the needs and expectations of users.
All reports are licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales
Licence. The following reports are available:
JISC
national e-books observatory project: Key findings and recommendations
Final Report, November 2009
This is the final report of the Observatory project and includes key
findings and recommendations for stakeholders. It brings together the
data from the deep log analysis, the user surveys, the focus groups and
the print and library circulation analysis.
Scholarly
e-books usage and information seeking behaviour: a deep log analysis of
MyiLibrary
CIBER, Final Report, November 2009
This report includes detailed data from the deep log analysis of the
MyiLibrary platform that took place from September 2007 to December
2008. The deep log analysis looked at how users discovered, navigated
through and used the 26 course text e-books that were made available on
the MyiLibrary platform. In addition, the use of 10,000 other e-books on
the MyiLibrary platform were analysed for comparison. There is an
executive summary for quick reference that highlights findings on
subject differences, reading times, searching, user locations etc.
Headline findings from the user surveys
CIBER Final Report, November 2009
This report provides an overview of the exit user survey undertaken
in January 2009 and compares the key findings with the entrance user
survey that took place in January 2008. The surveys explored user’s
awareness, perceptions and attitudes towards e-books and course text
e-books. Together these surveys received over 52,000 responses making
them the biggest user survey on e-books ever undertaken in the world.
Findings
from the first user survey
CIBER Final Report, April 2008
This report provides an overview of the findings from the first user
survey undertaken in January 2008. The data gathered provides a
benchmark against which the changes in user’s attitudes, perceptions and
awareness of e-books can be measured. There were over 22,000 responses
to this survey.
Analysis of the free text fields from the first user
survey
CIBER, Final Report, May 2008
This report provides an analysis of the responses to two open
questions in the entrance user survey. The first was ‘In your opinion,
what were the biggest advantages that e‐book offered, compared with a
printed book?’. This elicited 11,624 responses. The second question was
‘Is there anything that you want to add regarding course texts, print or
electronic, or about your university library?’ In total 4809 comments
were received to this question.
E-book use by academic staff and students in UK
universities: focus groups report
Information Automation Limited, Final Report, November 2009
This report provides an analysis of the focus groups held with
students and academic staff at 8 universities. The focus groups aimed to
gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which the JISC e-books and
e-textbooks in general were used by students and staff. They focused on
work patterns; attitudes; involvement in e-textbook selection
(academics only); the means by which e-books are located trough the
library and institution; the means by which content is discovered in the
e-textbook; added-value features; the effects of screen design on
reading; impacts on learning and teaching; users’ views on promotion of
e-textbooks; and views on the purchase of textbooks. This is a long
report with many insightful quotes.
E-book use by academic staff and students in UK
universities: focus groups report
Information Automation Limited, Headlines Report, November 2009
This report presents the headline findings from the student and staff
focus groups.
E-book collection management in UK university libraries:
focus groups report
Information Automation Limited, Final Report, November 2009
This report provides an analysis of the focus groups held with
librarians at 8 universities. The focus groups investigated the
attitudes and work of library staff responsible for establishing,
managing and promoting the e-book collections. They focused on:
selection; licensing and pricing models; cataloguing and MARC records;
ways of accessing e-books; promotion; evaluation; and the platform
interface through which the JISC e-books were available. This is a long
report with many insightful quotes.
E-book collection management in UK university
libraries: focus groups report
Information Automation Limited, Headlines Report, November 2009
This report presents the headline findings from the librarian focus
groups.
Assessing the impact of electronic course texts on
print sales and library hard copy circulation
CIBER, Final Report, November 2009
This report looks at the impact of free at the point of use course
text e-books licensed for the Observatory project on publisher’s retail
sales and library circulation data. It is an extremely interesting
report that uses transparent data.
Establishing
methods for future studies on the impact of e-books
Information Automation Limited, Final Report, November 2009
This report looks at possible areas of research that would be
beneficial based on the findings of the focus groups and the user
surveys.
