No Shelf Required: E-books in Libraries

E-books have been around for more than 10 years but are still a relatively new phenomenon to may librarians and publishers. With the introduction of e-book readers, the e-book has become mainstream, with recent triple-digit annual increases in sales. But what place do they have in the library? In this volume, Polanka brings together a variety of professionals to share their experience about e-books with librarians and publishers. Providing forward-thinking ideas while remaining grounded in practical information that can be implemented in all kinds of libraries, the topic explored include *An introduction to e-books, their different types, and an overview of their history and development *E-book technology: general features of interfaces and e-book readers, best practices for acquisition, data standards, and how to track usage *Why e-books are good for learning, and how librarians can market them to a wide range of users, as illustrated by case studies and examples This crucial collection is a must-read for librarians who wish to understand how e-books fit in today's library.

Sue Polanka is the moderator of No Shelf Required, a blog about the issues surrounding e-books for librarians and publishers, which won the 2010 Salem Press Library Blog Award for Best Academic Blog. Her intrigue with e-books began in 1999 with the introduction of NetLibrary and advanced with the evolution of online reference sources. She has been a reference and instruction librarian for 20 years at public, state, and academic libraries in Ohio and Texas and is currently the Head of Reference and Instruction at the Wright State University Libraries in Dayton, Ohio. Sue is a graduate of the University of Dayton and the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science. She has served on Booklist s Reference Books Bulletin Advisory Board for 10 years, functioning as Chair from 2007- 2010 and writes a column for RBB, Off The Shelf, discussing electronic reference issues.