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Library Assessment Forum to Explore Value of E-Books in Academic Libraries

mrs-duffee-reading-her-kindle
“Mrs. Duffee Reading Her Kindle,” © Mike Licht

ARL will host a Library Assessment Forum at the upcoming American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago, featuring research on the value of e-books in academic libraries conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as part of the LibValue project. The forum will be held on Friday, June 28, 2013, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place (Adler 24A-C). The forum is open to all who are interested and no registration is necessary to attend.

The UIUC Library has conducted research on e-book value as part of the LibValue grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The data collected from these studies include (1) longitudinal e-book use and cost data, (2) logbook diaries of e-book users, (3) data on patron-driven acquisition in humanities subject areas via short-term loan and purchase on demand, and (4) perspectives of UIUC humanities faculty and graduate students in architecture, art, art history, classics, music, and religion/theology. Overall, these multiple data sets have shown positive e-book engagement, and the library has gained insight into how users want to access, read, download, and browse e-book collections.  

The panel of presenters from UIUC will include Paula Kaufman, dean of libraries and university librarian; Tina Chrzastowski, chemistry librarian and professor of library administration; and Lynn Wiley, head of acquisitions and associate professor. Plan to attend the forum for a lively discussion!


The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research libraries in the US and Canada. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at https://www.arl.org/.

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