Building and Managing E-book Collections: A How-To-Do-It Manual For Librarians by Richard Kaplan

DiBello, Amy 

Kaplan, R. (2012). Building and managing e-book collections: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians (A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians). Chicago, Ill.: Neal-Schuman.

This one goes out to all the library paraprofessionals who felt like they were thrown into the deep end of helping library patrons with their eReaders. Until this class, I didn't give much thought to the history of eBooks or how to build or manage an eBook collection. However, Richard Kaplan's book Building and Managing E-Book Collections: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (which is part of our additional recommended reading) is a real treat. 

I had no idea about the complexities of digital license agreements, purchasing options, and how to coordinate print and digital titles while abiding by a budget. As a library patron, I enjoy books returning themselves and being able to download and read whatever I want from the comfort of my home. But the flip side for librarians is keeping up with high maintenance conditions of user agreements, selecting the best ebook platform, and negotiating with publishers.

This books addresses various scenarios about maintaining digital collections and staying in touch with patron wishes. Kaplan includes the experiences of librarians working in academic, public, and medical librarians to show why they made specific choices to sacrifice shelving spaces, participate in pilot programs, and lend out devices to patrons.