2017 Charleston Library Conference

Join us to hear two academic library perspectives on textbooks - one from the US and one from the UK - both with aims to support successful learning for students and engaged pedagogy for academic faculty.

In the US, the NCSU Libraries Textbook program is designed to reduce the burden of rising textbook costs on our student population by purchasing and placing on reserve at least one copy of every required textbook at NC State. Presenters will give an overview of NCSU’s Textbook Program, share our workflows and processes, circulation/use statistics as well as the metrics we are testing to gauge the impact of the program on students. We will discuss the long-term goals of the Textbook program, how the program fits with alternatives to traditional textbooks such as OERs, NCSU’s AltTextbook Project, and how we are engaging with e-textbook providers and partners on campus.

In the UK, the University of Manchester is developing new innovative models to provide students with individual access to e-textbooks as part of a wider Reading List strategy. We will highlight the benefits on offer to all parties with this new acquisition and supply model and how the move towards the digital textbook accelerates advantages for all stakeholders. Using a range of qualitative and quantitative research data results, we will highlight student and academic perceptions on this 1-1 model and also their opinions of textbooks in general. We will cover emerging developments in the textbook sector also assessing the threats posed by piracy, illegal downloading, increased student unwillingness to purchase textbooks and the potential impact of OERs. An assessment of potential way forward in light of these challenges will also be offered.