FreePint Research Illustrates Dramatic Growth in Use of Ebooks in Legal Settings
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The results of the recent FreePint survey on use of ebooks in corporate settings (http://web.freepint.com/go/sub/report/2497 – subscriber access required) demonstrate that ebook adoption is increasing dramatically in enterprises after many years of lagging.
FreePint (www.freepint.com) is an international analyst group that supports organisational investments in information and supports organisations’ information strategy by providing unique and practical content, community and consulting on information sources, technology and value.
Dramatic Growth Set to Continue
Overall penetration of ebooks in enterprise settings is now approaching 80%, FreePint research illustrates, with a strong appetite for this growth to continue over the next two years. For comparison, 95% of US academic libraries include ebooks as a service offering and have done for the past three years.
Sector Variations
In manufacturing and biotech/pharmaceutical industries, respondents reported adoption rates of 91%, with legal services 73% and professional services 60%.
35% of respondents reported that use had increased significantly in the last two years. 40% of respondents expect there to be significant usage growth over the next two years, with less than 3% predicting any decrease.
The Legal Sector
The survey results show some differing characteristics of ebook usage in different enterprise settings.
For example, law firms use a different set of providers than other segments. About 12% of the respondents to the FreePint survey were from law firms, and of these, more than 70% reported some use of ebooks. However, these firms generally use ebooks very selectively.
Of the top vendors noted, only EBSCO and Elsevier had much law firm presence. Not surprisingly, a number of specialised vendors were mentioned only by this segment. These included LexisNexis, Westlaw, Irwin Law, Matthew Bender, Morgan Claypool and Practising Law institute
Bess Reynolds of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP reported on an ebook trial carried out by her firm in 2011, The Challenges of E-Books in Law Firm Libraries (published by AALL/ILTA’s in October 2012). The article reviewed the experience of working with three ebook providers and reported on factors such as complexity of user start-up which constrained use of ebooks.
The recent FreePint Survey indicates that such usability and access concerns are now less of a concern across all segments, but law firm respondents did value the ability to integrate into their environment more highly than other segments.
While most users in all segments forecast continued growth in their deployment of ebooks, many also expressed specific concerns about the licensing and purchasing models available. FreePint subscribers will find additional details of the characteristics of ebook usage in segments such as pharmaceutical and engineering in the full survey report.
Benefits of Ebooks
Information professionals and end-users alike are benefiting from the improved access to content for global user communities which ebooks offer.
At the same time, respondents express concerns about how to manage ebooks as part of their collections, particularly the wide variation in options and licensing terms, many of which seem better suited to academic or public library environments.
Mobile Access to Knowledge
The proliferation of multiple smart devices has undoubtedly fuelled ebook adoption, allowing information to be accessed from the user’s own device, from a fixed point PC or other corporate device.
However, interestingly respondents reported that the most-used device for accessing ebooks is the desktop computer, with 90% of respondents making this option available, followed by end users’ own device at 53%.
Find Out More, Read the Full report
189 respondents participated in the research during January and February this year. The full findings including a look at the key vendors of ebooks in the enterprise, licensing considerations, success factors and strategy, are now available to subscribers in FreePint Report: Ebook Research 2015. http://web.freepint.com/go/sub/report/2497
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