Background and objectives
In spring 2014, the consortium launched a project aimed at increasing the availability of Finnish e-books at institutes of higher education using pricing models suitable for libraries and increasing publishers’ awareness of e-books. The e-textbook project surveyed the libraries’ need for e-book licenses, assessed the ability of publishers and platform providers to provide such licenses, and gathered information on students’ and teachers’ experiences of using e-books. In addition, licensing models were piloted to address the shortage of textbooks by providing several users with simultaneous access to e-books. The project was coordinated by the National Library of Finland.
The project was organized by The National Library of Finland and FinELib consortium, and participants included higher education libraries (both universities and universities of applied sciences), publishers Edita Publishing, Gaudeamus Helsinki University Press, PS-kustannus,and Vastapaino, together with ebook platform provider Ellibs Ltd.
During the one year pilot in the 2015–2016 academic year, two licensing models were tested: simultaneous user licenses and loan token packages with total of 250 book titles. National Library also collected e-book experiences from HE students and teachers with two surveys, which were open in January - May 2016.
The primary results of the project
- More Finnish e-textbooks are available for HE institutions
- 250 e-textbook titles during the pilot
- participating publishers willing to provide new titles after the pilot
- New lisensing models which allow multiple simultaneous users and take into account the high usage peaks of e-textbooks
- Better usability of ebooks, for both end users and the library acquisition management
We hope that the experiences from this project will benefit all, with more publishers selling e-books to libraries, with models that work for all parties.
Further information
Report: E-book Survey for Higher Education Students and Teachers in Finland (part of the E-textbook project)
Licensing models for e-textbooks in Finland. Presentation at Nordic E-book conference, 2.10.2015, Copenhagen, and SLiC eBooks Conference, 9.10.2015, Glasgow.
FinELib office: [email protected]
