Newsletter issue 4: December 2018
Welcome to the fourth edition of the e-books for FE newsletter. The team wish you a happy new year, and hope that you have enjoyed the holidays and are rested and ready for the new term.
This edition of the newsletter brings you the latest news and updates to the service, as well as special features and the each month’s top 20 users and titles. This month we are bringing exciting news about training webinars from ProQuest throughout January on the Ebook Central™ platform. Please see the training and events section below for further information.
As always, we value your feedback and suggestions – please email these to content.feandskills@jisc.ac.uk
In the December issue…
Titles expired in December
New titles added in December
Top 20 users – November 2018
Top 20 titles – November 2018
Most used e-book of the month
Function of the month
Training and events
The last word
Titles expired in December
The nine e-books listed in the table below expired on 10th December 2018. The titles are still currently searchable and available on Ebook Central, but are awaiting removal by ProQuest. Where we have similar titles still currently in licence, these have been listed next to the relevant books.
| Expired titles 10th December | ||||
| Doc ID | Title | ISBN | Similar titles still in licence | ISBN |
| 3384831 | OCR AS Psychology Student Book | 9780435806996 | OCR Psychology for A Level Book 1 | 9781471835902 |
| 3384840 | BTEC National Beauty Therapy Sciences | 9780435462437 | ||
| 4191374 | BTEC Level 2 First Applied Science Student Book | 9781846906091 | BTEC First in Applied Science: Principles of Applied Science Unit 1 Revision Guide | 9781446902776 |
| BTEC First in Applied Science: Application of Science – Unit 8 Revision Guide | 9781446902837 | |||
| 4191379 | BTEC Level 2 First Engineering Student Book | 9781846907234 | ||
| 4191380 | BTEC Level 2 First Performing Arts Student Book | 9780435026516 | ||
| 4191383 | BTEC Level 3 National Sport Book 2 | 9781846906503 | BTEC Nationals Sport Student Book 2 + ActiveBook | 9781292134055 |
| 4191385 | BTEC Level 2 First Construction Student Book | 9781846906589 | BTEC Level 2 First Construction | 9781846906589 |
| 4191391 | BTEC Level 2 First Hospitality Student Book | 9780435026592 | ||
| 4191392 | BTEC Level 2 First Travel and Tourism Student Book | 9781846907494 | BTEC First Travel and Tourism Student Book | 9780435402198 |
New titles added in December
In December, our geography collection expanded to include two new Pearson AS and A Level titles:
Edexcel GCE Geography AS/A Level Year 1 Level Text book and ActiveBook
This AS/A Level textbook, endorsed by Edexcel, covers six topics: tectonics, glaciated landscapes and change, coastal landscapes and change, globalisation, regenerating places and diverse places. The book also covers thinking synoptically to prepare students for the synoptic element of the exam. The textbook also contains key terms, a glossary, extension activities and exam support, including exam command words.
Search ISBN 9781292139623 on ProQuest Ebook Central™
Edexcel GCE Geography Year 2 A Level Text book and ActiveBook
This A Level textbook, also endorsed by Edexcel, accompanies the AS/A Level title. This book covers five topics: the water cycle and water insecurity, the carbon cycle and energy security, superpowers, health, human rights and intervention, and migration, identity and sovereignty, glaciated landscapes and change, coastal landscapes and change, globalisation, regenerating places and diverse places. The book also covers thinking synoptically to prepare students for the synoptic element of the exam. The textbook also contains key terms, a glossary, extension activities and exam support, including exam command words.
Search ISBN 9781292139654 on ProQuest Ebook Central™
The MARC records for these titles should be available to download by 28th January 2018. For guidance on how to download the MARC records, please see our guide to MARC records.
Top 20 users – December 2018
Well done to all users who reached a spot in December’s top 20, and a special congratulations to the top 5. The FE and skills team thank you for your promotion and use of e-books for FE. Well done to our new top user, Uxbridge College.
If any top 20 institutions have any tips to share on how you promote e-books for FE to teaching practitioners and learners, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with your top tips at: content.feandskills@jisc.ac.uk
| # | Institution | User sessions |
| 1 | Uxbridge College | 1722 |
| 2 | South Eastern Regional College | 1213 |
| 3 | The Cheadle and Marple College Network | 1048 |
| 4 | Capital City College Group – WKCIC Group | 972 |
| 5 | Blackpool Sixth Form College | 962 |
| 6 | Varndean College | 945 |
| 7 | Grwp Llandrillo Menai | 898 |
| 8 | South & City College Birmingham | 878 |
| 9 | Farnborough Sixth Form College | 814 |
| 10 | Leyton Sixth Form College | 773 |
| 11 | Cardiff and Vale College | 745 |
| 12 | Suffolk One | 730 |
| 13 | Coleg Cambria | 692 |
| 14 | West Nottinghamshire College | 681 |
| 15 | Neath Port Talbot College | 661 |
| 16 | Southern Regional College | 658 |
| 17 | Stockton Riverside College | 615 |
| 18 | Activate Learning | 610 |
| 19 | The Trafford College Group | 601 |
| 20 | Walsall College | 601 |
Mergers: If your institution has recently merged with another, ProQuest may not have the most current merger information and your merger may not be reflected in the usage data. Please check with ProQuest and request that they update your account to reflect the merger. Their e-book support contact address is: ebooksupport@proquest.com
Top 20 titles – December 2018
| # | Title | User sessions |
| 1 | BTEC Level 3 National Health and Social Care: Student Book 1 | 5822 |
| 2 | Cache Level 3 Child Care and Education | 3536 |
| 3 | BTEC Level 3 National Business, Book 1 | 2770 |
| 4 | BTEC Level 3 National Health and Social Care: Student Book 2 | 2383 |
| 5 | BTEC Level 3 National Business Student Book 1 | 2267 |
| 6 | BTEC Level 3 National Public Services Student Book 1 | 1710 |
| 7 | BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 1 | 1706 |
| 8 | BTEC Level 3 National Business Student Book 2 | 1460 |
| 9 | BTEC Level 3 Business Book 2 | 1153 |
| 10 | BTEC Level 3 National Applied Science Student Book | 1001 |
| 11 | BTEC First Business Student Book | 964 |
| 12 | BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 2 : For the 2016 specifications | 874 |
| 13 | Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 7th Edition | 871 |
| 14 | BTEC Level 3 National Construction and the Built Environment Student Book | 870 |
| 15 | BTEC Level 3 National Travel and Tourism Student Book 1 | 801 |
| 16 | BTEC Nationals Applied Science Student Book 1 | 800 |
| 17 | CACHE Level 2 Introduction to Early Years Education and Care | 777 |
| 18 | AQA A-level Psychology Book 1 | 738 |
| 19 | BTEC Nationals Business Student Book 1 | 722 |
| 20 | BTEC Level 3 National Public Services Student Book 2 | 709 |
Most used e-book of the month
Title: BTEC Level 3 National Health and Social Care: Student Book 1
Author: Mary Whitehouse, Neil Moonie, Carolyn Aldworth and Marilyn Billingham,
ISBN: 9781846907463
For the fourth month running, the most used e-book was BTEC Level 3 National Health and Social Care: Student Book 1. This month it received 5,822 uses, which is 2,286 more uses than the second most-used e-book Cache Level 3 Child Care and Education.
Function of the month
Bookshelf
Our December function of the month is the Bookshelf function. The Bookshelf is a useful function that allows the user to keep track of downloads, loans and saved books, and the bookshelves can be shared with other users. Features include:
1.Download & Loans – Easy access to the books you’ve downloaded or have on loan, and a reminder of how many days are remaining.
2. Recently Viewed – Up to 10 titles that you’ve recently viewed are displayed here.
3. Annotated Books – Easy access to all of the books that you have bookmarked, highlighted or added notes to
4. Save to Bookshelf – Organize your books into as many folders as you’d like. Your bookshelf comes with a Research folder and you can add more folders as you need them.
5. Annotations – Access your highlights, notes and bookmarks at the book level quickly and efficiently.
6. Sort By – Sort by Title, Contributor(s), Year Published, Publisher.
7. Share Link to Folder – Share a link to your folder with others at your institution. The link could be used to create online course reading lists or new title lists for patrons and faculty.
8. Email Folder – Email folder contents to other Ebook Central users.
9. Export Folder – Export folder contents in .csv format.
10. Cite Folder – Create a citation from your choice of styles: APA, Chicago/Turabian – Notes-Bibliography, Chicago/Turabian – Author-Date, Harvard, MLA, or Vancouver, or import into RefWorks/Flow or EndNote/Citavi.
11. Export Notes, Share Link to Book, Copy To, Remove – Export your notes and bookmarks; share a link to the book; copy a book to another folder; or remove the book from your bookshelf.
12. Cite Book – Create a citation from your choice of styles: APA, Chicago/Turabian – Notes-Bibliography, Chicago/Turabian – Author-Date, Harvard, MLA, or Vancouver.
13. Select, Copy or Remove Books – Select books and copy them to a new or existing folder or remove books from bookshelf.
Training and events
ProQuest Ebook Central training webinars
We are very excited to announce that in January, ProQuest will be running a series of training webinars on Ebook Central, exclusive to Jisc members. The webinars will give an overview of Ebook Central, how to run reports on LibCentral, and additional tips such as how to download and embed links to any e-book in your VLE. The webinars would also be useful for teaching practitioners who are looking to embed e-books into their teaching. Each webinar will follow the same content, but they are across four dates and times, so that hopefully there will be one at a convenient time for all members wishing to participate. The webinars will last for around 45 minutes, with an additional 15 minutes for live Q&A with members of the ProQuest team. To register, please follow the link below to your chosen session, and complete the registration process:
Tuesday, 15 January 2019 14:00
Wednesday, 30 January 2019 10:00
Thursday, 31 January 2019 14:00
Digifest 2019
Booking is now open for Digifest 2019, which well take place from Tuesday 12 to Wednesday 13 March 2019 and will take place at The International Conference Centre, Birmingham.
Digifest is the leading UK education technology event for middle and senior-level managers, and those leading change across the further and higher education sectors. The event is a unique opportunity to see, hear and network with leaders at the forefront of the edtech industry, sharing the latest trends in further and higher education and thinking through an innovative, motivating and challenging agenda of thought-leading keynote sessions, hands-on workshops and lightning talks. Digifest delegates are actively encouraged to mould, shape and immerse themselves in the event conversation. You’ll have the chance to experience the latest advances in technology to question, inform, inspire and learn, which you can then feed back into your organisation. Digifest is free to attend for all Jisc member organisations.
The last word
Book industry demands end to VAT on e-books
After an EU directive that allows governments to remove VAT on digital publications, the book industry are calling on the UK government to end the ‘illogical and unfair’ levy on e-books. The Guardian reported on this issue in December:
The UK government is being urged to axe the “illogical and unfair” 20% tax currently imposed on ebooks, while print books remain exempt, after European legislation cleared the way for this to happen.
The new legislation, which came into force on Tuesday, allows member states to reduce or do away with VAT on digital publications such as ebooks, audiobooks, journals and newspaper subscriptions. France, Italy and Iceland have already declared they will lower their taxes on digital publications.
Digital publications are currently taxed at 20% in the UK; printed publications have been exempt from VAT since its introduction in 1973, “on the general principle of avoiding a tax on knowledge”.
A cohort of voices from the books world, led by the Publishers Association and supported by the Society of Authors, the Professional Publishers Association, the National Literacy Trust and BookTrust, is now urging the government to “axe the reading tax” on ebooks and bring them in line with print.
“Zero-rating digital publications is a change that will not only put money into the pocket of consumers, but also benefit authors, publishers and the wider UK economy. Reading is a social good, regardless of whether we read pixels or ink. That’s why we’re calling on the government to stick to its principles of not taxing knowledge by acting urgently to axe the reading tax,” said chief executive Stephen Lotinga, who is due to discuss the issue with Treasury officials on Friday. “The UK government has long said its hands are tied by EU law on this illogical and unfair tax – not any more.”
Read the full story here.
Should the UK end the tax on e-books? What implications would this have for libraries, especially in FE? We would love to hear your thoughts – get in touch or Tweet us.
If you have a suggestion for November’s the last word, please get in touch at content.feandskills@jisc.ac.uk
Support queries
Telephone: 0800 220 710
Email: content.feandskills@jisc.ac.uk
Website: https://support.ebooksforfe.jisc.ac.uk
