The research project aimed to investigate how librarians are managing
the integration of electronic book collections in their library
holdings, focusing on the selection criteria issues. The main intent
is to identify the gap between the plurality of access and business
models of electronic book collections offered by publishers and the
issues that academic librarians are tackling in terms of selection,
collection management, analysis of users’ needs and budget limitations.
The paper describes the case study carried out by the
researcher for the dissertation of the International Master in Information
Science, jointly delivered by Parma University, Parma, Italy
and Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Two interviews and a questionnaire were done between February
and July 2008 whereas the analysis of the results was carried out
between September 2008 and January 2009.