Update on Ebrary books

The access to ebrary e-books under the JISC E-books for FE project comes to an end this Summer.  Negotiations are underway to work out what will be available and how we will access it.  The following information has been received from JISC regarding the current position.

Ebrary platform

The survey showed that keeping the books on the Ebrary platform was clearly the preferred option, so negotiations have begun to renew our agreement for a further term. Access to the platform will continue to be free for all registered institutions.

Current content

Access to most of the current c. 3,000 titles will cease at the end of August. What will remain are the c. 200 well-used core titles that were purchased outright, and the c. 50 titles that were licensed for two years last summer. We are currently analysing the survey results to draw up a list of the other titles that you voted to keep, and these will also remain (dependent on the publishers’ willingness to continue, and the price).

New content

We also have funds to add new content to the platform over the summer, to keep the project fresh and relevant. Again, we are analysing the survey responses, to draw up the specifications for a tender that we shall publish in May. In brief, it is envisaged that the project will continue with a collection of around 400 core, well-used titles from September, still free to all institutions.