This study looks closely at the plans of 28 academic libraries for their eBook collections, detailing spending from 2019-20, 2020-21 and the 2021-22 academic years, including spending on specific publishers and aggregators. The report also looks at the change in spending on eBooks relative to print books, and at the mechanics of eBook contracts, including the percentage of contracts negotiated through consortia and the use of various pricing and use models. The study also looks at the impact of the pandemic on eBook usage and developing eBook information literacy efforts, as well as the use of dedicated endowments for eBooks, and the growing use of eTextbooks and the academic library role in their acquisition.
In addition to data on purchases from aggregators, respondents name the publishing companies from which they most often purchase or license eBooks directly, and specify the percentage of their purchases accounted for by individual publishers rather than aggregators..
Data and commentary for the report was contributed by 28 academic libraries; data is broken out by size and type of college, for public and private colleges, and by tuition level.
Just a few of this report's many findings are that:
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Public college librarians sampled estimated that use of their eBook collections had risen by a mean of 15.69% in 2021.
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About 16.8% of the ebook spending by the libraries in the sample is accounted for by contracts that limit the number of views or borrowings by patrons.
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Survey respondents spent a mean of $8.457 on eTextbooks in the 2020-21 academic year.