Ebook Showdown: Evaluating Academic Ebook Platforms from a User Perspective

Abstract

The continuing growth of ebook purchases through librarian selection and demand driven acquisitions (DDA) has resulted in an explosion of ebook platform usage. This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis done on the features, usability and accessibility of academic ebook platforms such as ebrary, EBL, Safari, Springer, and Wiley. This research was done across platforms (iOS, Windows, Android) and included testing with a variety of the most prominent accessible technologies.