8 Using E-Books in Your Course
Comparing E-books to Print
E-books differ from traditional books in a few ways.
- They’re searchable.
- They’re USUALLY accessible.
- Chapters can be downloaded, but there are some restrictions based on the vendor. Books that are ‘DRM’ free can be downloaded and are most accessible because they do not require external software, such as Adobe Digital Editions. DRM free books are more expensive but are often title based. JSTOR has a reputation of publishing DRM books. EBSCO and ProQuest offer it, depending on the title.
- They have the same content, but e-books can be updated so you’re not getting an exact edition like you would with print. (This is unfortunate in some ways, because intellectual freedom challenges might result in modifications to original works. This makes reviewing editions difficult.)
- Licenses for e-books are vastly different for libraries vs. traditional print. Libraries have operated primarily on the first sale doctrine in copyright law, allowing them to buy and lend books to their communities. E-Books are tightly controlled by publishers and do not fall under the same law. In fact, lawsuits have emerged to try to get e-books under this umbrella, but so far libraries have lost this battle.
Basic E-Book facts
- E-book purchases often operate on specific licenses that determine the amount of uses at one time. Typically, they offer the following:
- 1-user
- 3-users
- unlimited users.
- 1 user would be the cheapest but can potentially keep an e-book checked out for a specific amount of time, preventing others from using it, much like a traditional print loan policy.
- Unlimited users are unlimited access and is the most expensive license.
- All e-books purchased or leased through the library are not to be shared with others and should be accessed using the permalink available via the catalog or clicked on from a blackboard course.
- E-books can be bought in perpetuity through vendors, so that even if the company shuts its doors, we are often able to store the file on platforms like portico.
- E-books can be purchased in bulk, which often includes frontlisted and backlisted titles.
- We subscribe to a few e-book packages and all of those titles are available in the library catalog (insert picture of facet)
- Open access ebooks are also available in our catalog and are marked as ‘open access’ and ‘book’.
Linking out to E-booKs
E-books can be linked out from Blackboard like any link. You can even link to a chapter with most vendors. Always be sure to use the permalink.
Ensuring perpetuity
We can often buy e-books in perpetuity (although this might change in the near future), ensuring that the book will always be available for your course. If you use an ebook that is a part of a leased package, you might lose access if the subscription is cancelled. Therefore it’s important to consider contacting the library to let us know that you want to ensure perpetuity. We can purchase the e-book, depending on funding, so you won’t have to worry about losing access.
