Locked in: eBook loan limitations and licensing agreements in public libraries
Author
Faculty Advisor
Date
2024
Keywords
licensing agreements, ebooks, public libraries
Abstract (summary)
Licensing agreements on ebooks have altered the core of what libraries have done for hundreds of years: own books and lend them. Public libraries aim to adapt to what their communities need and with the rise of the Internet and the new digital landscape came a new way that library users began to read – through ebooks. While many may have hoped that ebooks would represent a new horizon for a book reading reality of unfettered, instantaneous, simultaneous access, that was not to be the case (Sang, 2017). Instead, the ecosystem surrounding ebooks has become increasingly rigid (Sang, 2017). A widespread culture of licensing rather than ownership of digital content has risen and in the case of ebooks, has resulted in agreements in which libraries are paying for limited licence agreements at unreasonable prices. While the challenges of ebook licensing agreements affect all types of libraries, this chapter will focus specifically on how this issue has affected public libraries in Canada and the United States, first by providing a background of the shift to licensing agreements over ownership for ebooks, followed by an overview of the current situation. This chapter will then offer an analysis of the challenges ebook licensing agreements pose to library collection management, and finally, an exploration of potential responses for a way forward.
Publication Information
Deschamps, D. (2024). Locked in: eBook loan limitations and licensing agreements in public libraries. In K. Cameron, C. Chiovelli, L. Cline, K. Day, A. De'Ath, D. Deschamps, S. Gleason, M. Grande-Sherbert, S. Hakimizadeh, A. Ip; O. Komarnytska, M. LeBlanc, A. Melton, M. Maddaford, A. Nowakowsky, G. Nwokoloh, W. Pei, N. Pope, R. Pouliot, … J. Wilson (Eds.), Contemporary issues in collection management (2nd ed., pp. 166-191). University of Alberta Library. https://pressbooks.openeducationalberta.ca/ciicm/
DOI
Notes
Item Type
Book Chapter
Language
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
