THURS C1 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM Do Humanities & Social Sciences E-books Get Used? Location: Holiday Inn, Cooper Room B Thread: FOR Speakers: Matt Barnes – ebrary; Neil Sorensen – ebrary; Carol Zsulya - Cleveland State University It is a common belief that e-books are less conducive to studies and general research in the humanities and social sciences. As the reasoning goes, patrons in these fields are primarily interested in immersive reading and e-books do not suit this purpose. In this session speakers will present a case that this belief is largely false. Utilizing ebrary usage statistics that go back more than a decade and span multiple library types, evidence will be presented that suggests patrons do utilize e-books in many of the humanities and social sciences, and in many cases, utilize this material quite heavily. Speakers will interpret the data presented and discuss how findings here could better inform collection and acquisition decisions in libraries. Discussion with attendees will be encouraged.

1. Do Humanities Titles Get
Used in the Digital World?
Carol Zsulya
Matt Barnes
Neil Sorensen
By

2. • What are humanities?
• Which subjects fall under
humanities?
• Electronic format effect?
• The truth - do they get used?
• Real statistics prove it!
• Why should we care?
• What does this mean for
your library?
Overview

3. Humanities Defined
“Learning or literature concerned with human culture: a term
including the various branches of polite scholarship, as grammar
rhetoric, poetry, and especially the student of the ancient Latin
and Greek classics.”
-- Oxford English Dictionary
“Disciplines of the classical languages, English literature, the
principal European literatures (and some Indic and Chinese
literatures), philosophy, and history.”
-- Babbitt’s Literature and the American College.
“Includes archaeology, comparative religion; ethics; history;
languages & linguistics; literature; jurisprudence; philosophy;
history, theory, and criticism of the arts; aspects of the social
sciences which use historical or philosophical approach;
humanities, general and interdisciplinary.”
-- Ohio Humanities Council

4. Really???
In the 21st
century???
Humanities E-books

5. • Fiction and nonfiction yet to be written
• Independent films yet to be produced
• Threat of stem programs
• Research
• Core curriculum in liberal arts
and humanities
• Users’ preferences
Humanities & The Future

6. Curl up with a good e-book lately?
What’s the problem with e-humanities?
Rumor has it………….
Humanities are mostly read for leisure.
Humanities are “touchy,” “feely” books.
One cannot immerse themselves an e-book.
Rumors

7. The Humanities
• Classics
• History
• Languages
• Law
• Literature
• Performing Arts
• Philosophy
• Religion
• Visual Arts

8. ebrary Content by Subject
Anthropology/Soc
Business
Computers
Education
Engineering
History Political Sci
Humanities
Interdisciplinary Studies
Language Literature
Law
Life Science
Medicine
Nursing Allied Health
Physical Science
Psychology Social Work
Religion Philosophy
• Over 210,000 perpetual access titles
• Over 50,000 academic subscription titles

9. 0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
Jan-02Jul-02Jan-03Jul-03Jan-04Jul-04Jan-05Jul-05Jan-06Jul-06Jan-07Jul-07Jan-08Jul-08Jan-09Jul-09
Middle East and
Africa
Latin America
Asia Pacific
Europe
North America
Customer Growth

10. 0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
Jan-04
Jul-04Jan-05
Jul-05Jan-06
Jul-06Jan-07
Jul-07Jan-08
Jul-08Jan-09Jul-09
Searches
Prints
Copies
Views
Perpetua
l
Usage

11. Active Customers Views, Copies, Prints
North
America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Latin
America
Middle East
and Africa
End-users
3000 17Million 25Million
Geographical Breakdown

12. 4 Years Data – 24 Institutions
Annual e-book usage statistics from 24 U.S. institutions.
4 Academic Research Universities - average FTE 27,700
4 Academic Universities (non ARL)- average FTE 25,200
4 Academic Universities - average FTE 14,820
4 Community/Career Colleges - average FTE 15,200
4 Community Colleges - average FTE 6,700
4 Community/Career Colleges - average FTE 3,800

13. 2007
2007
Average Library Type FTE
2007 Total
Number of
Titles Viewed
2007 Total
Humanities
Titles Viewed
2007
%Percentage
of Humanities
Large Academic Research Library 27,700 29,800 8,420 28.26%
Large Academic Library 25,200 15,011 3,318 22.10%
Medium Size Academic Library 14,820 9,512 1,618 17.01%
Medium Size Career College 15,200 5,990 740 12.35%
Small Academic College 6,700 3,780 610 16.14%
Small Career College 3,800 2,201 345 15.67%

14. 2008
2008
Average Library Type FTE
2008 Total
Number of
Titles Viewed
2008 Total
Humanities
Titles Viewed
2008
%Percentage
of Humanities
Large Academic Research Library 27,700 32,800 10,230 31.19%
Large Academic Library 25,200 15,902 3,970 24.97%
Medium Size Academic Library 14,820 9,630 1,811 18.81%
Medium Size Career College 15,200 6,101 898 14.72%
Small Academic College 6,700 3,990 781 19.57%
Small Career College 3,800 2,340 399 17.05%

15. 2009
2009
Average Library Type FTE
2009 Total
Number of
Titles Viewed
2009 Total
Humanities
Titles Viewed
2009
%Percentage
of humanities
Large Academic Research Library 27,700 36,988 12,250 33.12%
Large Academic Library 25,200 18,360 5,018 26.94%
Medium Size Academic Library 14,820 9,876 1,922 19.46%
Medium Size Career College 15,200 6,990 1,080 15.45%
Small Academic College 6,700 4,420 940 21.27%
Small Career College 3,800 2,788 531 19.05%

16. 2010
2010
Average Library Type FTE
2010 Total
Number of
Titles Viewed
2010 Total
Humanities
Titles Viewed
2010
%Percentage
Large Academic Research Library 27,700 39,654 14,230 35.89%
Large Academic Library 25,200 23,122 6,532 28.25%
Medium Size Academic Library 14,820 12,728 2,973 23.36%
Medium Size Career College 15,200 7,280 1,299 17.84%
Small Academic College 6,700 5,180 1,190 22.97%
Small Career College 3,800 3,123 631 20.20%

17. Humanities Usage Growth
Statistics

18. The percentage e-humanities titles use has
increased over the past 10 years 17% to 23%
Humanities Usage Growth (Cont.)

19. Increased Use of Humanities eBooks
2007 To
2008
2008 to
2009
2009 to
2010
2007 to
2010
2.93% 1.93% 2.77% 7.63%
2.86% 1.97% 1.32% 6.15%
1.80% 0.66% 3.90% 6.35%
2.36% 0.73% 2.39% 5.49%
3.44% 1.69% 1.71% 6.84%
1.38% 1.99% 1.16% 4.53%
4 Year Growth
ARL 27,700 FTE
Academic 25,200 FTE
Academic 14, 820 FTE
Career College FTE 15,200
Academic FTE 6,700
Career College FTE 3,800
Humanities Usage Growth (Cont.)

20. Preconceived Notions
1. Patron-driven acquisitions will lead to
‘acquisition anarchy’
2. People do not like reading or working
on computer screens.
3. Patrons studying humanities and social
sciences do not prefer or utilize
e-books.

21. 2006 Usage by Broad Subject
Rank BISAC Interactions
1 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS 17,878,807
2 COMPUTERS 8,614,926
3 SOCIAL SCIENCE 6,441,631
4 SCIENCE 5,636,027
5 POLITICAL SCIENCE 5,500,011
6 MEDICAL 5,473,552
7 TECHNOLOGY 5,085,475
8 HISTORY 4,781,568
9 EDUCATION 4,624,080
10 STUDY AIDS 4,353,403
11 PSYCHOLOGY 3,831,291
12 LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES 3,265,183
13 MATHEMATICS 2,339,238
14 PHILOSOPHY 2,201,128
15 LITERARY CRITICISM 1,898,293

22. 2009 Usage by Broad Subject
Rank BISAC Interactions
1 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS 29,048,527
2 SOCIAL SCIENCE 15,144,365
3 STUDY AIDS 12,303,407
4 POLITICAL SCIENCE 11,755,748
5 HISTORY 10,869,925
6 MEDICAL 10,703,250
7 EDUCATION 10,691,454
8 PSYCHOLOGY 9,380,879
9 COMPUTERS 8,938,855
10 SCIENCE 7,611,591
11 TECHNOLOGY 7,490,295
12 LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES 5,994,816
13 LITERARY CRITICISM 4,883,428
14 PHILOSOPHY 3,704,234
15 RELIGION 3,118,496
Increase
62%
76%
91%
109%
98%
96%
110%
96%
93%
75%
96%
84%
109%
68%
64%

23. Thank you!
Questions?