Champions and e-books: using student Library Champions to inform e-book purchasing strategies

Abstract

How students really use e-books is a subject of much interest to library professionals. This has particular relevance when it comes to selecting suppliers and e-book platforms for institutional use. The question of preferred formats (print versus digital) has been asked exhaustively, but technology develops fast and is here to stay in higher education, so a more pressing question is how we evaluate which platforms offer the best user experience for our students. At the University of Exeter we used our student Library Champion volunteers as a focus group, repeating the process over two years, to help determine which platforms were preferred. Champions examined multiple interfaces, but concentrated primarily on aggregators. They were encouraged to use their own laptops and tablets to access the e-books, which proved particularly valuable as it allowed interfaces to be rated for their compatibility across devices. Positive and negative feedback was collated, sent to providers and also used directly to inform and alter the Library’s purchasing preference list.