Science Intelligence and InfoPros

Based on a new report by Joseph McKendrick.  The Digital Squeeze: Libraries at the Crossroads surveyed 730 public, academic, special, education, and government libraries in the US.

“Librarians report a levelling off in the use of Facebook and LinkedIn to connect with customers and the use of wikis and blogs is declining.  However, more of them are using collaborative tools including the sharing of web pages, subject guides, and the use of document-sharing, photo and video sharing web apps.

Libraries, unsurprisingly, reported an increased demand for ebooks, wireless connectivity and other technology tools and services.  More than one-third of the respondents reported that they spent more money on information technology hardware, software, and related IT services over the past year. 

More libraries are moving to the cloud for operational support and content storage.  26% of them are already offering e-readers, with one respondent stating that this activity will be an area of ‘extreme growth’.

Skelton, Val. Libraries, the digital squeeze and ebooks. InformationToday Europe, 12th of April 2012. Available from: http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Libraries-the-digital-squeeze-and-ebooks-81910.aspx [Accessed 13th April 2012]

An interesting white paper, sponsored by Springer, where 5 consultants give their conclusions after first years of experimentation.

“eBooks have evolved considerably over the last fi ve years, beyond the more mature, but less dynamic eJournals space. Th ey are now poised at an intersection of library, technology and research trends that afford great opportunities and challenges, for both the library and publisher communities.

Similar to the formative years of STM eJournals adoption, eBook uptake shows both promise and challenges:promise as an efficient source for research, and challenges as stakeholders grasp how best to manage this relatively new content format.

In their sixth year, eBooks are entering an Age of Experimentation… (…)

Content:

• In Their Infancy: eBooks Helped Librarians and Researchers Work Smarter, But…
• eBooks Today: As Many Questions as There Are Answers
• eBooks Tomorrow: A Bright, If Uncertain, Future

Read the white paper at:

http://www.springer.com/ebooks

In spite of constant media attention around new forms of technology and especially e-books students still appear to be reticent about embracing new technologies in their studies. (…)

The students in the group, who studied a range of subjects at universities in and around London, felt there was a constant push for them to move to digital but they were resisting it. Although respondents were seeing increasingly more iPads and e-readers at university and they expected more use of e-books in the future, they were unanimous in the hope that this wouldn’t come at the expense of face-to-face time and hard-copy texts. (…)

The students in the focus group said that they used a wide range of online sources and databases (mentions included JSTOR, Project MUSE, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Athens, Emerald journals, LexisLibrary, Westlaw UK, ISI Web of Knowledge and Inspiration). They also used search resources including Google Scholar and Wikipedia. However, it was startling (and distinctly disheartening to the publishers watching the group) how little the students bought digital study resources and e-books. (…)

Medical students had by far the greatest use of apps for their studies…

Read further:

Kedros, Jenny. Focus group reveals reticence about move to digital. Research Information, 28th of February 2012.
http://www.researchinformation.info/news/news_story.php?news_id=902

We’ve already heard such arguments below a dozen of times for 2 last years.
Studies on the growth of the e-book market reveal that tablet computers and e-readers may put an end to real paper-based books. The US Book Industry Study Group found that nearly half of those who bought both print and digital books would abandon the hard copies. (…)

“It is only a matter of time before we stop killing trees and all publications become digital,”  (…) “The e-book market is developing very fast, with consumer attitudes and behaviors changing over the course of months” (…) Concerns about e-book reading are diminishing, with people mainly wishing for lower device prices (…) Owning e-readers tended to ramp up the amount of money people spent on titles (…)

“I think it is a myth that it is going to kill the print book business,”  “Will it force publishers to think differently?”  “Absolutely, but it doesn’t spell the demise of print (book) publishing.”

Agence France-Presse.Tablets, e-readers closing book on ink-and-paper era. The Raw Story, posted on Thursday, December 29, 2011. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/29/tablets-e-readers-closing-book-on-ink-and-paper-era/

The concept of Rachel Botsman fits well with evolution of readers’ behavior.

The way that people consume music has changed dramatically in recent years.  Anders Mildner, a journalist and media analyst from Sweden, speaking at Online Information 2011, believes the way people read and relate to books will follow a similar pattern.  The consumption of books, like music, will become less passive and more social.

New forms of e-book will enable readers to share reading experiences, just as they share music and playlists.  Reading will become a more participatory activity.  Although the value of books as physical objects will decrease, their value as social objects will increase.  Publishers and authors will look to develop works that can be enjoyed as social, shared experiences.  Librarians, and others, will need to re-engage with what reading is all about.  Publishers need to develop new business models

Skelton, Val. The future of ebooks.  Information Today Europe, Posted on 8th of December 2011.
http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/The-future-of-e-books-79299.aspx

Press release:

“Today, Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care, launched a free 5-volume diabetes educational e-book series, designed to help patients work with their health care team to better manage their diabetes.

The e-book series is part of Cornerstones4Care™, an innovative patient support program that provides highly customizable diabetes information through the comprehensive interactive website www.Cornerstones4Care.com.

Novo Nordisk is committed to helping patients achieve their diabetes goals and saw a need to make diabetes management information more accessible. According to the Association of American Publishers, as of February 2011 e-books ranked as the number one selling format among all categories of trade publishing and sales are continuing to increase.

Read more on PharmaLive:
http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleid=802960&categoryid=69

According a recent study, traditional U.S. print title output in 2010 increased 5%, despite the popularity of ebooks.

The non-traditional sector continues its explosive growth, increasing 169%..

Print on demand is growing at an explosive rate. In 2008, the production of non-traditional print-on-demand books surpassed traditional book publishing for the first time and since then, its growth has been staggering.

InfoToday, 23 may, 2011.
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/Digest/Print-Isnt-Dead-Says-Bowkers-Annual-Book-Production-Report-75628.asp

The excellent presentation of Dr Sian Harris during Online Information.

Issues discussed included devices, formats, digitisation, preservation and digital rights management, as well as predictions for the future and some of the e-book plans for 2011 shared by scholarly publishers at the meeting.

http://www.researchinformation.info/OnlineShow2010.pdf

Google of course (who else?)…

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/discover-more-than-3-million-google.html