Academic Library Use of eBooks

Description

Libraries are the repositories of knowledge and form an integral part of education. With the rise of e-books and audiobooks, they face difficult choices on adapting to the changing times. For students, teachers, scholars and researchers the experience of a good library can be very conducive for learning and teaching. Electronic books offer creative possibilities for expanding access as well as changing learning behaviour and academic research.
They make content accessible at the touch of a button irrespective or place or time and can be read on multiple devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, tablets or portable book readers. One can carry several titles at once on a portable reader and even build a personal library. Features such as full text searching, changeable font size, mark -up, citation creation, and note taking enhance usability and user experience. Print text can be integrated with multi-dimensional objects, sound, and film to create a whole new kind of monographic work.
However there are still many questions about e-book sharing and use in post-secondary libraries like exploring current restrictions on viewing, printing, downloading, circulation, and interlibrary loan that confuse many. The most fundamental problems include restrictive license provisions, proprietary software and file formats, digital rights management (DRM) and the single-user business model adopted by many e-book vendors.
This book attempts at shedding light on all the topics mentioned above while also serves as a guide to academics and library professionals on the fundamentals of library automation.