(4 Apr 2025) Following the University of California Ebook Usability Common Knowledge Group’s (EUCKG) analysis of 3 publisher platforms (Cambridge, Elsevier, and Wiley) and the publication of an initial report, the EUCKG received feedback to evaluate ebook aggregators to see how they perform against similar usability criteria. The criteria focuses on users’ features related to user interfaces, reader compatibility, and ebook purchasing and licensing terms. The UC Libraries primarily use two major ebook aggregators: ProQuest’s Ebook Central (EBC) and EBSCOhost for Ebooks. The EUCKG analyzed these two platforms using similar criteria to those used in the first report, to identify larger trends, helpful features, and areas for improvement. The Ebook Platform Usability Report – Aggregators: A Case Study of EBSCO and ProQuest was developed between 2020 and 2024.
Although only a very limited number of titles are purchased consortially through aggregators by the University of California Libraries, campuses rely heavily on ebook aggregators to provide access to ebooks for which we do not have access directly from vendor platforms. Aggregator platforms face different challenges than publisher platforms, particularly given that they supply books from hundreds of different publishers. The format of the ebook and the usage rights and restrictions can vary greatly between publishers, leading to a less uniform experience for users. Books may be available in PDF, EPUB, and/or HTML formats; they may be DRM-free or downloading and printing may be heavily restricted; publishers may only offer a 1-user license while others allow for unlimited simultaneous users, to name just a few differences. While we found that the number of ebooks in different formats can vary greatly between the aggregators and publishers they work with, there is one positive: the percentage of books available DRM-free has been steadily increasing, as has the availability of books in both PDF and EPUB formats.
E-format resource purchasing continues to allow our users quick access to needed materials. The online user experience is an essential part of learning, teaching and research success. Ebooks allow our users to continue their learning, instruction and research activities. The findings in this report on ProQuest and EBSCO ebook platforms allows us to have a better understanding of aggregator platforms in order to purchase content on platforms that optimize user experience. Additionally, our ongoing advocacy for ebook usability remains critical to ensure our users have access to a quality experience with library resources.
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