Subject Mapping of Electronic Books in Further and Higher Education Institutions in the UK

Full Report (Word, 280Kb)

Introduction

At the meeting of the E-working Group committee of January 8th 2002 it was agreed that Chris Armstrong and Ray Lonsdale would respond to Agenda Item 7c, which set out the need for an investigation of the Subject Mapping of Electronic Books in Further and Higher Education Institutions in the UK, and produce a substantive schema for the research. A discussion document was subsequently formulated as a precursor to the schema, and this was considered at meeting at Cranfield on 1st March. Following those discussions, a second schema for the research was developed. Subsequently, a pilot focus group was held in conjunction with the CoFHE/UC&R conference and, in the light of that experience, a further meeting to refine the aims and objectives of the project was held between in Birmingham on 10th May 2002.

Aim

The study was designed to assess the status of e-books and the requirements for their acquisition within seven disciplines in Higher and Further Education (HE/FE) institutions in the UK. In the context of this study, the term ‘e-books’ includes complete or partial monographs and textbooks, as well as reference works. Excluded were learning materials – defined as material generated by academic staff in-house.

Subject Disciplines

For the purpose of this study the following disciplines were identified, and represent fields where there was a known base of e-book publishing and where feedback from the communities suggested need. The disciplines were also selected as representing important teaching areas with the two educational sectors. They comprised:

• Business and management (HE and FE)
• Engineering (HE and FE)
• Medicine (HE), Health and Nursing (FE)
• Computing (HE and FE)
• Humanities (HE and FE)
• Law (HE)
• Sports and leisure (FE)

Objectives

The study set out to:

1. Establish existing knowledge base and attitudes (e.g. perceived value and advantages) with respect to e-books on the part of both library staff and academics
2. Identify the problems surrounding the provision of, and access to, e-books within the institution.
3. Identify those subject fields within the seven disciplines in which it would be most beneficial to develop e-book collections. Within each subject field the study ascertained:
   • the major national and international publishers;
   • the most desired levels of publishing (i.e. non-graduate, undergraduate, postgraduate, research);
   • the most useful types of e-books (reference, monographs, textbooks);
   • a consensus of what might constitute essential titles for an electronic subject collection (i.e. the top 20 printed non-reference book titles, and the top two or three reference titles which should be made available electronically);
   • a consensus of what are the most valuable e-books currently available within each subject (i.e. the top 20 non-reference titles and the top two or three reference titles already available electronically); and
   • the reasons underlying the above choices.

Methodology

The study comprised first qualitative and subsequently quantitative methodological approaches.

Qualitative Study

A series of six structured, subject-based focus group sessions within HE, and six regional focus group sessions within FE were conducted with librarians and academics to:

• promote e-books in general;
• introduce the e-books experience as a basis for subsequent discussions;
• determine attitudes and knowledge about e-books, as well as gleaning some insights into the advantages and disadvantages of the format; and to
• explore the feasibility of obtaining quantitative data for objective 3.

It is important to note that the focus group sessions were promoted to the community as ‘workshops’ and comprised, in addition to the focus group interview, a general introduction to e-books and one or two presentations/demonstrations by relevant publishers.

The focus groups used a structured interview schedule. This was piloted at one institution in each educational sector prior to use. Each focus group comprised one librarian and one academic from each of circa six institutions. This methodology had the potential to capture views from as many as 36 HE institutions and 36 FE institutions. The interviews were recorded; and notes taken in order to ascribe statements correctly.

Quantitative Study

Following the focus-group meetings and the analysis of responses, it was envisaged that a secondary, e-mail questionnaire survey might be undertaken to obtain more detailed, quantitative data on e-book requirements (Objective 3).

An electronic questionnaire was to be formulated and piloted. This would be distributed to subject librarians/librarians in all HE and FE institutions in the UK using the SCONUL, MEG-LIB and COFHE mailing lists. Quantitative data would be analysed by the team.

Timescale

The 4 HE and 2 FE focus groups were undertaken by the end of 2002.