Frequently asked questions

What is this the aim of this project?

The level of potential demand for electronic versions of course textbooks in British universities is a completely unknown quantity. Publishers are unsure about this new market due to a lack of evidence about demand and concerns over the potential impact on print sales. Librarians and publishers are also unsure about which kinds of pricing and licensing models are needed.

The aim of this project is to find out what happens when a selection of key course texts are made available electronically to the whole of the UK higher education community. The project, funded by JISC, will provide the first national evidence base concerning student demand for e-textbooks. It should go a long way to helping all the stakeholders (librarians, publishers, faculty and students) to gain a much better understanding of the issues.

What is the scope of this project?

JISC is making a range of core texts available free at the point of use for two years in the following disciplines:

- Business and Management Studies
- Engineering
- Medicine (not including mental health or nursing)
- Media Studies

What is CIBER's role?

CIBER is an independent publishing and new media think tank. We will be evaluating the JISC Observatory over the period January 2008 to March 2009 and building up a detailed picture of how e-textbooks are used and the impacts of this new form of library provision in print sales. Our evidence base will comprise large-scale online surveys, interviews and focus groups and deep log analysis.

What is deep log analysis?

When people use web-based information services, they leave tracks behind them on the information provider's computer in the form of `web logs'. CIBER has developed sophisticated techniques that enable us to tell a lot about the information seeking behaviour of people in cyberspace: these techniques go much further than standard click counting packages, hence the term `deep log analysis'. During this project we will be closely monitoring student and faculty information seeking behaviour: this will enable us to determine how e-textbooks are being used and how users find their way to these resources.

How can I find out more?

As this project matures, we will be putting a lot of information (in the form of reports, presentations and so on) up on this mini-site. You can also follow developments by clicking on the link (left hand side of this page) to the JISC Observatory main site.


Updated 2 January 2008.