Presented at 2009 LITA National Forum, 10/2009
Reports findings from my study on mobile access to licensed e-book collections at the Yale University Library. Four readers were tested: Amazon Kindle 2.0, Apple iPod Touch, Sony Reader PRS-500, iRex iLiad 2nd edition. The Apple iPod Touch (& iPhone) was the only mobile device that could directly access licensed e-books.
11. Resources Tested History Reference Online Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts Blackwell Reference Online Books24x7 ITPro Collection Cambridge Histories Online Literature Online Perseus Project ebrary ENGnetBASE: Engineering Handbooks Online Eighteenth Century Collections Online Gutenberg-e ACLS Humanities E-Book Knovel Madame Curie Bioscience Database Medieval Sources Online NetLibrary (OCLC) SourceOECD Oxford Reference Online PatrologiaeGraecae Past Masters Safari Books Online Early English Books Online, 1475-1700 Methods in Enzymology Springer Protocols World Bank e-Library
12. Testing Could you access e-book using device? Could you use an additional method to access Yale licensed e-books on the device (for instance: bookmark, email, download, copy, or other)? What was the format type? Rate ability to access using following scale: 1. Able to access, but unreadable, unusable 2. Able to access, may be readable, difficult to view or navigate 3. Able to access, fairly readable, content viewable 4. Able to access, overall readable, sized to fit screen and can navigate without difficulty 5. Able to access, very readable, very easy to view content and navigate
14. Summary Apple iPod Touch Could access 84% of Yale’s e-book collections Amazon Kindle 2.0, Sony Reader PRS-500, and iRexiLiad 2nd edition Could access 24% of Yale’s e-book collections