2010 was a big year; 4G was rolled out for commercial use; we saw the launch of technological game changers in the first iPad and the iPhone 4 as well as the first mass-produced mainstream electric car, the Nissan Leaf. At Cambridge University Press, it was the year we launched our first ebook platform Cambridge Books Online, that would change the shape of our publishing future forever.

Much has changed in the last 10 years (hands up who thought that by now we’d all be reading books using Google Glass while travelling by autonomous car?) but one thing has remained constant; the Cambridge University Press commitment to publishing academic content to the highest of standards.

The pace of change in recent years has been incredible, and our digital services have been part of that change with Cambridge Books Online seeing its first major refresh just 3 years after launch before being completely transformed in 2016 when Cambridge Books Online and its sister platform Cambridge Journals Online were unified to become Cambridge Core – The home of academic content and over 37,000 ebook titles.

But how has this digital revolution changed things? One potential answer is data. For example; It is now standard practice to use real usage data to make fact-based, data-informed purchasing decisions, allowing institutions to either accurately track the usage of the titles they had purchased to ensure they are getting a good return on their investment or ensuring they can be confident that they’re making a wise purchase.

In response to this new way of making purchasing decisions Cambridge University Press pioneered the development of the Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA) model which allows institutions to maximise the Cambridge content that is accessible to end users while protecting valuable budgets. By using an EBA model institutions can amplify the power of their budget, in many cases only requiring a deposit of 5-10% of the total cost of all ebook content.

The Cambridge EBA model is the simplest and most cost-effective approach to acquire ebooks in a fact-based way, while taking some of the pressure off library budgets, boost e-resources, prepare for new courses, and improve student satisfaction. For more information about the Cambridge EBA, please take a look at this FAQ blog post.