The acquisition of e-books in the libraries of Swedish higher education institutions

Introduction. Our aim is to compare the advantages and problems of e-book acquisition identified in research literature to those experienced by two Swedish university libraries. Method. A literature review was used to identify the main issues related to acquisition of e-books by academic libraries. The data for comparison were collected through case studies in two Swedish universities. Document analysis, interviews and personal experience were used for data collection. Results. The main drivers of e-book acquisition by Swedish academic libraries are the perceived needs of the users. Ebooks are regarded as potentially useful for solving some of the problems of library service. A number of challenges and problems identified by the participants in the case studies coincide with those that were derived from the literature review. Conclusions. The problems of e-book acquisition in academic libraries seem to be common to the economically strong Western countries. University librarians see certain advantages of e-books for their users and libraries. Publishers and academic librarians expect that e-books would not lose the advantages that printed books offered to them. Hence, publishers restrict the usage of e-books to ensure revenues as if from selling individual copies. Librarians try to regain the same level of control over e-book collections as for printed materials. The acquisition of e-books in the libraries of the Swedish higher education institutions http://www.informationr.net/ir/19-2/paper620.html[7/10/2014 2:32:25 PM] Introduction The number of articles and books on e-books is growing rapidly, but the literature stays fragmented and scattered over several disciplines. One of the areas that already can benefit from consolidation of research data is academic librarianship. Academic libraries acquire e-books and manage a variety of e-book collections from a number of distributors, aggregators and publishers using their rich experience of negotiations from the earlier phase of working with e-journals and databases of full-text articles as well as other digital resources. The supply of academic e-book resources (mainly, scholarly and scientific monographs, treatises, research reports, e-textbooks, The acquisition of e-books in the libraries of the Swedish higher education institutions http://www.informationr.net/ir/19-2/paper620.html[7/10/2014 2:32:25 PM] reference books and some other non-fiction e-books used as study literature) in the English language is already quite prolific on the international market and has great significance for scholarly communication. Even the production of e-monographs in smaller local languages is emerging in many countries (e.g., Sweden, Poland, etc.) (Bernhardsson, et al., 2013; Kulczycki, 2012) and in different academic publishing contexts (university presses, non-profit foundations, commercial publishing). Such texts also draw attention to the role of academic libraries in their production, distribution, and preservation. As academic libraries were the main buyers of scholarly monographs that rarely appeared as entirely commercial products, the stress on library budgets from the acquisition of other electronic resources (e-journals, databases, e-textbooks) disrupts the existing business model of monograph production severely (Svensson and Eriksson, 2013), so new ways for their distribution are sought (see www.knowledgeunlatched.org or www.oapen.org). As research is mainly focused on academic libraries in English speaking countries or English language publications, the question arises whether the same is true for academic libraries in countries with less widely-used languages. The aim of the paper is to compare the problems identified in research literature to those experienced by two Swedish university libraries. This should help to establish, 1) if the general problems identified in research literature in other countries are present in a Swedish university library; 2) what are the needs expressed by Swedish libraries for acquiring and providing access to e-books and, 3) what are the problems they experience in relation to this. The results of the literature review and of two case studes will be used in the design of an extended survey of Swedish academic libraries and their practice of acquiring and managing e-books in the research project on e-books funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet). The team of authors is related to this country through working or studying in one of its universities, and in the case of the principal author, through participation in the funded research project. The topic is limited to the issues of acquisition of e-books and The acquisition of e-books in the libraries of the Swedish higher education institutions http://www.informationr.net/ir/19-2/paper620.html[7/10/2014 2:32:25 PM] managing e-book collections. It does not include e-book usage or user perspectives on e-books in academic libraries or investigations of e-book providers for