The Cooperative Collection Development of Electronic Books in Hong Kong: A Jurisdictional Approach

Hong Kong has a good practice and experience in cooperative collection development of print books through the Hong Kong Monograph Acquisitions Consortium (HKMAC). This consortium is formed by all eight UGC-funded university libraries in Hong Kong. Drawing on its experiences, another consortium, Electronic Resources Academic Library Link (ERALL), was formed to purchase E-books. While this presentation reviews ERALL’s funding arrangement and organizational structure, we have also examined the different aspects of E-book purchases such as selection criteria, number, costs, savings, subjects and duplications, etc. A comparison is highlighted between HKMAC and ERALL, as both are jurisdictional consortium, exercising the strongest bargaining power. A usage study conducted at City University of Hong Kong is also presented in comparing the daily check-out rate on print circulating English books without E-version and those with E-version. Check-out rates on books with E-version have further be examined base on their subject areas and E-book packages, such as ERALL and Cicada. Interesting findings were gathered from this study which will provide direction for future research.