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Purpose – This paper describes the findings from the qualitative strand of the JISC National e-Book Observatory (2007-2009), relating to the promotion of e-textbooks in UK universities by the library, academics and publishers. A complementary article on the ways in which students and academics locate e-books provided by their library will appear in a future issue. Design/methodology/approach – Following the provision by the JISC of collections of e-textbooks, the project used deep log analysis, benchmark surveys and focus groups to develop a rich picture of library e-collection management and use by students and academics. Focus groups were undertaken with library staff, academics and students; the dialogues were transcribed and analysed using NVivo7 software. Findings – The qualitative studies found that libraries were using a range of promotional tools although these were not always finding their targets. Often libraries had no formal promotion strategy for e-resources. Although little in evidence, the value of academic commitment and promotion was emphasised. Promotion by publishers and aggregators is both to libraries and directly to academic staff. Students felt that they were largely unaware of promotion beyond the presence of e-books in the catalogue, and in some cases stated explicitly that they thought more should be done to promote library e-resources to them. Practical implications – The paper offers pragmatic guidance on promotional methodologies. Originality/value – The project describes the first major, national usage study of e-books in higher education. This paper contributes significantly to the literature in discussing the importance of promoting e-books to students and staff.

The market for e-books has taken off, particularly in the world of education. Aggregators provide easy access to large collections of titles from many publishers through a single interface. The article is a comparative review of ten aggregators with collections available in the UK, and points to emerging trends.

This article presents the results from a recent survey into the provision of electronic books within academic libraries in the UK. Where relevant the results are supplemented by data from two other surveys concerned with e-book provision and electronic information services undertaken by the authors. Incidence of provision of e-books from individual publishers and through aggregators is reported. Reasons for non-provision and attitudes towards the medium are discussed, and issues concerned with bibliographical access are explored. The article concludes with a discussion of the role and influence of the E-book Working Group set up by the UK body responsible for networking and electronic resources in higher and further education: the Joint Information Services Committee (JISC).

JISC, the Joint Information Systems Committee, established a User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to investigate and profile the use of electronic information services within higher education in the United Kingdom. This article discusses aspects of the methodology of the Framework, and preliminary findings from the first annual cycle of the Framework. Findings are based on interactions with 1500 users, including academic staff, LIS staff, and students. Executed through 3 strands, the framework methodology uses an array of quantitative and qualitative approaches to lend a variety of insights into user behaviour with EIS, factors that encourage the use of EIS, and those that act as barriers to the effective integration of EIS into the learning experience.

JISC, the Joint Information Systems Committee, establishes a User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to investigate and profile the use of electronic information services within higher education in the United Kingdom. This article discusses aspects of the methodology of the Framework, and preliminary findings from the first annual cycle of the framework. Findings are based on interactions with 1500 users, including academic staff, library and information service (LIS) staff, and students. Executed through three strands, the Framework methodology uses an array of quantitative and qualitative approaches to lend a variety of insights into user behaviour and electronic information services (EIS), factors that encourage the use of EIS and those that act as barriers to the effective integration of EIS into the learning experience.

This eLib Supporting Study was conceived to investigate the incidence and nature ofthe publishing of electronic scholarly monographs and textbooks in the UnitedKingdom. Given the international nature of academic publishing, and the fact that theprofessional literature suggested a higher incidence of activity within North America,the study was extended to encompass publishing beyond the UK. This afforded acomparative context by which to view UK initiatives.The project focused on publications used in tertiary education or for research, and‘electronic publishing’ was taken to mean texts made available in any computer-mediated format: diskette, CD-ROM or via the Internet.A range of methodological approaches was employed in conducting the research.These included a comprehensive literature search and review; a survey of publishersof electronic monographs by means of an interrogation of their Web sites, and casestudies were also conducted with selected UK publishers. A separate investigation ofthe publishers of national bibliographical sources and services was also undertakenusing telephone interviews, and UK university libraries were surveyed by means of anemail questionnaire.The project explored several interrelated areas. The nature of the general publishingcontext of scholarly monographs and textbooks was investigated to ascertain thecurrent status of academic book publishing. The study offers a description of thestructure of electronic monograph publishing, addressing such issues as incidence ofprovision, management structures, costing mechanisms, authoring and editorialresponsibilities. An analysis of the issues associated with the characteristics of CD-ROM and Web monographs is provided, together with a delineation of the nature ofnarrative content, added value components, subject orientations, rights issues andquality control. File formats, document authority and identification, publicationsecurity and metadata are considered for both CD-ROM and Web monographs.The project explored the implications of electronic monograph publishing for thoseinvolved in collection management, and provides an analysis of the current nature ofbibliographic access and delivery. A cursory investigation into the provision ofmonographs in university libraries complemented that analysis, and was conceived asthe precursor for a further in-depth study.The findings of this report are extensive and complex. They suggest that UKelectronic monograph publishing is embryonic, but alert to the salient issues. Thestructure of the industry reflects to some degree international initiatives yet displaysunique characteristics. Extensive bibliographical problems remain, especially for Webmonographs, and there is little evidence of collection management activity associatedwith electronic monographs in university libraries. A set of thirteen recommendationsdelineates areas that require further investigation, together with suggestions forenhancing awareness about the central issues identified in the research. A majorconclusion concerns the need to establish a national forum to debate these issues andto foster electronic monograph publishing.