Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Library E-Book Platforms Are Broken: Let's Fix Them, Joelle Thomas, Galadriel Chilton

Library Staff Publications

E-books promise users convenience and accessibility, but library e-book platforms contain so many barriers to use and access that patrons often turn away in frustration. In addition, aggregators’ e-book platforms often include intrusive, onerous digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. The traditional solution of DRM-free e-books are generally only available only in large and expensive publisher packages. One approach to solving these problems is an evidence-based selection of e-books program; it not only offers access to hundreds of DRM-free, unlimited simultaneous-user e-books that are integrated with similar e-journal content, but also includes an agreement that libraries will only purchase titles with …