When making collection development decisions regarding e-books, information professionals may wish to evaluate the following:

Business models

a) What is the business model for purchasing/subscribing to the material?

b) How many simultaneous users are allowed, and what happens if this limit is reached?

c) Does a one-off payment confer rights to perpetual access?

d) By how much is a subscription cost likely to rise in the future, and on what basis (e.g. if more titles are added, is there an increased cost involved?)

e) Is there a platform charge in addition to the cost of the material itself, and is this one-off or ongoing?

f) Is the material available through a consortium deal?

g) Are any discounts available for volume purchases?

h) Is the supplier on the parent authority or institution's ‘approved’ list, or will it be necessary to undergo a formal procurement process?

i) Is the material subject to VAT, and at what level?

Licensing

a) Does the licence allow the upload of parts of the text into a VLE, use of the text in printed course packs, and reproduction of parts of the text for the purposes of assignments and theses (if applicable)?

b) Does the licence allow ‘walk-in’ use for visitors to the library building who are not members of the institution?

c) Does the licence allow reproduction of parts of the text for the purposes of interlibrary loans?

d) Does the licence allow access to readers based overseas (such as distance learners and students based at partner institutions)?

e) Does the licence allow access to staff and students at associated institutions and/or alumni?

f) Does the licence grant permission to archive titles locally for the purposes of continuing access should the supplier withdraw material or go bankrupt, or does the supplier deposit material in a dark archive such as CLOCKSS or Portico?