The CTW Library Consortium conducted a pilot project to share ebooks across the three member institutions: Connecticut College, Trinity College, and Wesleyan University. Over 1,000 ebook titles were loaded for patron-driven acquisition, with 462 titles being purchased after being opened. Usage statistics showed the number of titles opened once and the number of pages viewed. The consortium evaluated the project and considered consolidating workflows and delaying some purchases to better manage costs and content.
1. Collection Development
Adventures
of a Small Consortium:
CTW’s Shared eBook
Project
The CTW Library Consortium
ACRL- Delaware Valley Chapter
Conference
November 2011
2. Lorri Huddy
CTW Librarian for
Collaborative Projects
The CTW Library Consortium
Connecticut College
Trinity College
Wesleyan University
3. The CTW Consortium
Trinity College
Connecticut College Wesleyan University
4. CTW’s Shared eBook Pilot
Expectations
• Ease of sharing
• 24/7 access
• Multiple simultaneous users
• Cost savings
• Patron-driven selection
• Space needs
• Workflow
6. Getting Titles that Fit
• Content Areas • Publication Date
• Types of Materials • Language
• Specific Publishers • Price Limit
7. Overview of CTW’s set up
with MyiLibrary
• Books purchased on 2nd session
No Short Term Loans!
• Entire book accessible each session
• Print 60 pgs / Download 10 pgs
• Access Levels:
- Multiple Users (Year 1)
- Single User (Year 2)
8. What’s in the
Numbers?
6,322 PDA Records Loaded
1,012 Titles Opened
= 16% of all PDA titles
462 titles purchased
Cost to CTW: $47,117
Avg. price/title: $103
550 titles opened once
Value: $60,680
9. Usage of eBooks
Titles Titles Viewed
Jan 2010-Oct 2011
Purchased Once
Total Titles 462 550
Total Sessions 3,179 550
Total Pages Viewed 45,298 5,989
Avg. Sessions / Title 7 1
Avg. Pages / Session 14 11
Avg. Pages / Title 98 11
Most Sessions in 1 Title 116 1
Most Pages in 1 Session 270 207
Most Pages in 1 Title 2,143 207
15. eBook vs. Print
Average price per ebook:
$131 MU and $75 SU
Average cost over list:
MU vs. Cloth = 1.9 MU vs. Soft = 3.9
SU vs. Cloth = 1.2 SU vs. Soft = 2.0
Here’s a breakdown of all PDA titles that have been purchased or viewed by LC class. It helps answer a question we have been getting asked: Which content areas show up repeatedly in usage statistics? …May relate to wanting to identify early adopters of ebooks by disciplinary areaWhen we started the pilot, we made some guesses about which departments might use ebooks the most and were glad to see that titles being used fall across all disciplinary areas. For example, we were not surprised to see the highest usage counts in the Social Sciences, but were surprised to find out many more Religion and Philosophy titles have been used than Psychology titles.