[Eril-l] [EXTERNAL] request for examples of libraries almost entirely non-firm ordering, print and e

[Steve Oberg]

In response to Karen Jensen’s email about differences in philosophy, plus Jill Emery’s followup and maybe one or two others who’ve emailed…My view is, you just can’t over-emphasize the importance of the local context. Yes, it does have something to do with each institution’s budget (relative wealth or lack thereof), but it also has to do with user expectations and types of education being offered. What I mean by that is that for example, my institution is very much a residential experience and deliberately so, with no plans to expand into online offerings (other than perhaps in our graduate programs). This colors our considerations about ebooks vs. print.

Also, my institution tends to be rather conservative anyway but in this regard, at least, being conservative about ebooks has been a good thing. My perspective is that by and large, they are just not that user-friendly and in many cases are not library-friendly at all, either. I hope this will change over time and of course, we will observe external changes like this, along with changes at our campus user level, and re-evaluate as time goes on.

Steve

Steve Oberg
Assistant Professor of Library Science
Group Leader for Resource Description and Digital Initiatives
Wheaton College (IL)
+1 (630) 752-5852

NASIG Vice-President/President-Elect
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