National E-textbook Debate
On the 14th April 2008 JISC hosted a National E-textbook Debate. The debate, part of the National E-books Observatory Project and the first in a series of events for JISC’s Libraries of the Future programme, provided a unique opportunity to quiz a panel of experts and to openly debate the future role of the library in the provision of electronic textbooks.
You can listen to the audio of the event and read what the panel said at the Libraries of the Future website.
About the event:Â
JISC’s Executive Secretary, Malcolm Read, chaired the event and managed the panel. The panel consisted of publishers and librarians. Representing the publishing community we had Tom Davy, CEO of Cengage and Dominic Knight, MD of Palgrave. Representing the library community we had Sue McKnight, Director of Libraries and Knowledge Resources at Nottingham Trent University and Mandy Phillips, Information Resources Manager at Edge Hill University. Each had their own viewpoint, some arguing that in order to meet expectations and demand the institution/library purchase model must continue and some arguing against the institutional/library purchase model of e-textbooks on the grounds of sustainability and diversity of needs.