UK University survey on Ebooks

[Patricia]

Do you work or study at a UK university?

If so, the National Ebooks Observatory Project is interested in collecting your views about Ebooks. They are conducting an online survey of staff and students, here:
http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/pr...ksproject.aspx

(I thought that the survey was rather basic, but spent a bit of time regaling them with my views in a comment box at the end.)


Here's the details:

The national e-books observatory project is about exploring impacts, observing behaviours and developing new models to stimulate the e-books market.

Why the project?

There is a strong demand for core reading materials, including textbooks in e-format from UK undergraduates and teachers in higher education which is not being met
E-book publishers are nervous about providing core reading materials and textbooks online as there is a lack of evidence about demand and concerns over impacts on print sales
JISC Collections, e-book publishers and librarians are unsure about the most realistic and sustainable pricing and licensing models for providing students with online access to core reading materials
What are the aims and benefits of the project?

To provide an in-depth understanding of how core reading materials are actually used in teaching and learning rather than just providing statistics on the number of downloads, pages printed, etc. This information will be invaluable to publishers and institutions as it will inform the online creation, format and promotion of core reading materials
To enable publishers, libraries and aggregators to assess the demand for core reading materials
To enable all parties to measure the effect of ‘free at the point' of use core reading materials on the buying behaviours of students and on print sales
To enable libraries to measure the benefits and potential costs of providing core reading materials online to students
To inform the creation of appropriate and realistic pricing and licensing models
To raise awareness generally of e-books throughout the academic community
To stimulate the e-books market in a managed environment
Full project information is available at the project website: www.jiscebooksproject.org

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Would they be interested in the views of people who've done research into and trials with mobile learning in the HE sector, do you think?

[Patricia]

I don't see why not, Am. If you click on the project website there's some contact details.