The market for e-books has taken off, particularly in the world of education. Aggregators provide easy access to large collections of titles from many publishers, through a single interface. Consultants Ray Lonsdale and Chris Armstrong compare the offerings of the largest providers, and point to emerging trends. During the last decade, e-books have grown to become a significant library resource; a 2007 international e-book survey showed that 88 per cent of respondents ‘answered that they own or subscribe to e-books’ and nearly half of the respondents (45 per cent) have had access ‘to more than 10,000 e-books’. 1 Although annual US wholesale e-book sales rose by 23.6 per cent in 2007, 2 take-up has remained uneven in the UK. Higher and further education continues to dominate sales, with a number of public and special libraries also committing themselves to the format. Other sectors − such as schools − are only just becoming aware of the possibilities.
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