Research on undergraduate preferences and engagement consistently show that print is the preferred format. Here is one article: Mizrachi, D. (2015). Undergraduates' Academic Reading Format Preferences and Behaviors. Journal Of Academic Librarianship, 41(3), 301-311. http://webproxy.potsdam.edu:2048/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2015.03.009
Anecdotally, students often tell us they'd prefer to have a print copy of a book.
E-books are complicated. Libraries are subject to different prices and rules than individuals when purchasing e-books.
Generally e-books are more expensive than print. enerally
Most e-books have limited number of users which has to be negotiated at point of purchase. The more users we request, the more expensive it becomes.
E-book "purchases" are actually leases, meaning we don't own the title. Depending on the vendor, leases may expire or vendors can deny access if they find cause (e.g. if the license agreement has been violated).
E-books require some kind of "reader" (Kindle, iPad, computer and browser). If students don't own their own reader, they are reliant on library or lab computers.
Providing technical support for all the variations of hardware and software is simply daunting.
There are often limits on the number of pages that can be printed or copied and pasted.
E-Book Textbooks Available in College Library Databases
Springer e-books: SUNY Potsdam owns all Springer e-books (50,000+ titles) published 2010 to the present. We own these books into perpetuity and the books can be download fully as .pdfs. For a list of the 3,700 TEXTBOOKS in the collection click here. Most of these textbooks are at the upper-division undergraduate level and higher. The second tab is a pivot table so you can sort by subject. However, the google doc erased the pivot table, so if you would like an .xlsm version emailed to you contact Marianne Hebert hebertm@potsdam.edu
E-book Central has 200,000+ ebooks in the collection. It is mostly a leased collection so occasionally (though not often) ebook access can be discontinued. If you were to adopt an E-book Central title for a course, and it was one of the rare titles to be discontinued, we would work with you to provide access. It is easy to search by author or title, but finding a comprehensive list of "textbooks" is not possible at this time.
