NetLibrary, the e-content division of OCLC, recently surveyed academic and public libraries on key issues in perceptions and usage of e-books currently and going forward within the UK. It was found that three-quarters of academic libraries and half of public libraries that responded intend to increase their collections of e-books over the next year, in spite of the current fiscal climate. Nearly 300 libraries responded to the survey. Other key themes born out of the survey findings provide insights into what is driving usage and collection development in these two key sectors.
Eighty-five percent of public libraries responding to the survey indicated that they were most interested in developing fiction e-book collections despite recent research that suggests e-books are most often used for reference purposes. Possibly this trend is being fuelled by the growth in take up and availability of e-book reading devices among public library users such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader. Similarly, a rise in the usage of MP3 players could be attributed to the fact that 65 percent of public libraries also indicated an intention to further develop their e-audiobook collections.
Of the academic libraries who responded to the survey, half indicated that their use of e-books was to support their core reading lists in various subject areas. The main areas were business/management (13%), medicine/health (9%), education (6%) and engineering (5%).
