E-book is not a Four-Letter Word

As the landscape of e-book publishers, platforms, and acquisition models continues to shift and expand, librarians and staff working in collection development and acquisitions do their best to stay on top of ever-changing decision-points and workflows.

At the William H. Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount University, twenty librarian-liaisons are also expected to stay informed of new or changing options when it comes time to select a format for monographs in their subject areas. But selection is a secondary responsibility for most of our liaisons, and information about changes in our e-book collection development shared via email or even through semi-regular face to face liaison meetings often fails to “stick.” As a result, many liaisons continue making selection decisions about e-books based on outdated or incomplete information, or in some cases become overwhelmed and omit e-books from their decision-making process altogether.

As if frustration during the selection process weren’t enough, public services librarians also reported challenges with helping our users understand the increasing complexities of selecting and using e-books for their research.

In order to prevent “e-book” from becoming a profane phrase, staff in Acquisitions & Collection Development decided to see what we could do to increase communication and reduce e-book anxiety for our liaisons both as selectors and in their roles working with end-users.

At this presentation, which will be of interest to librarians and e-book vendors or publishers alike, attendees will learn about the development and implementation of a two-hour interactive E-book Boot Camp designed to increase LMU librarians’ knowledge and confidence in making informed decisions about e-book selection in GOBI and in providing support to our students and faculty. Attendees will leave with a template for in-house professional development that can be adapted for use at their own institutions.