Scholarly publishing is in a state of flux as electronic resources have arisen as an alternative to print. A distinct shift has occurred in the case of journals: print journal collections are dramatically declining with electronic journals becoming the standard format. The College Library is a case in point.
The Library currently has switched from 400 to 20 print subscriptions and offers users access to 2500 e-journals via the College’s website. But what of books? Depending on the nature of the book’s content, users express preferences between print and electronic formats. A survey of UK universities showed that users prefer to read short sections of books online but prefer print for reading an entire book.[1]
The online reading experience was one of very short viewing and visiting times akin to e-journal use. In a study by Folb and colleagues,[2] reference or pharmaceutical books seemed better suited for the electronic format. At the same time, their study’s respondents, including clinical physicians, who were among the heaviest e-book users, demonstrated a great deal of flexibility: either format was acceptable so long as it was conveniently available at the time of need.
Clearly e-books are now well entrenched in the scholarly publishing marketplace, but the utility of print persists. Accordingly, the College Library offers access to approximately 100 e-books on its website (www.cpsbc.ca/library [12]) and continues to maintain an excellent collection of print books with a focus on clinical medicine. Borrowed books are free for College registrants to receive and return via post.
—Karen MacDonell, Robert Melrose, Judy Neill
Library Co-managers
1. Nicholas D, Rowlands I, Clark D, et al. UK scholarly e-book usage: A landmark survey. Aslib Proc 2008;60:311-334.
2. Folb BL, Wessel CB, Czechowski LJ. Clinical and academic use of electronic and print books: The Health Sciences Library System e-book study at the University of Pittsburgh. J Med Libr Assoc 2011;99:218-228.
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/may-2012
[2] https://bcmj.org/author/karen-macdonell-phd-mlis
[3] https://bcmj.org/author/robert-melrose
[4] https://bcmj.org/author/judy-neill
[5] https://bcmj.org/node/4502
[6] https://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/BCMJ_54_Vol4_college_library.pdf
[7] https://bcmj.org/print/college-library/book-lives
[8] https://bcmj.org/printmail/college-library/book-lives
[9] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/college-library/book-lives&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[10] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The book lives on&url=https://bcmj.org/print/college-library/book-lives&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[11] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[12] http://www.cpsbc.ca/library
[13] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[14] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop