Abstract
The Columbia University Online Books Evaluation Project sought to understand both user reactions to online books in the scholarly world and the cost profiles of print and online books. Scholars appreciated the opportunity to use the online format to locate a book and to browse it. However, they sought a print copy for extended reading. Incremental costs of online books are small for publishers. Libraries’ life-cycle costs are lower for online books than for print books.
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Additional information
Summerfield and Mandel were both members of the Columbia University Libraries staff during the time of this project. Summerfield was a Project Director and Coordinator of this Project and Mandel was Deputy University Librarian and Director of this Project.
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Summerfield, M., Mandel, C. & Kantor, P. The potential for scholarly online books: Views from the Columbia University Online Books Evaluation Project . Pub Res Q 16, 39–52 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-000-0015-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-000-0015-7