E-books, the latest word: proceedings from the Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge

A panel which included a librarian, publisher and e-book providers presented issues confronting the growth of e-books in the academic library marketplace. The e-book market projections are a small part of the higher education book market. Frontlist titles are demanded by libraries with suppliers eager to supply such titles. However, publishers are feeling their way through various rights and contract issues as well as business models as they determine which frontlist titles to provide in electronic form. The instability of business partners has contributed to publisher delays in releasing titles as e-books. No one, (librarians, suppliers, publishers) is throwing in the towel on e-books but the position this format takes in the publishing industry and therefore in library collections in the near future is unsettled.