Introduction

Academic libraries subscribe to many subject-specific electronic resources (i.e. databases and e-journals, etc.) to support the academic instruction and curricula of the institutions. E-books are considered electronic resources and also a hybrid between subscription-based and purchase with in-perpetuity access. Unlike printed books, e-books require an electronic device (desktop PC, laptop or e-reader) for access. To encourage and facilitate the use of e-books, many libraries started loading the content onto e-readers or similar devices and lending them to users. At the Sojourner Truth Library (STL), a small e-reader exploratory initiative was launched with the endorsement of the Library Dean in late 2010.

iPads can do more than e-readers

In December 2010 STL purchased several leading e-readers and tablet devices that were available in the market at that time. For a list of the devices see Table 18.1 on the next page. One of the tablet devices was the Apple first-generation (1st-gen) iPad, which made its debut in April that year. Over the winter recess of 2011, librarians and staff began ‘playing’ with the devices. The e-readers and devices were made available for staff to borrow and explore on a weekly basis. The feedback and reactions from the librarians and staff were overwhelmingly favourable towards the 1st-gen iPad, even though it had no camera. The applications and user experience on the iPad were superior to those of the other e-readers and devices. The 1st-gen iPad had a high-quality digital colour display and touch-screen. It also had all other popular e-reader apps readily available, in addition to functional applications (e.g. internet browser, e-mail, social media networking, games, videos and music). It was very obvious that the 1stgen iPad was more than an e-reader, with multimedia capabilities and general computing functions.

The iPad 2

After months of testing and learning the new tablets and e-readers, from apps to interface to technical support, the library believed that the Apple iPad technology was stable and mature enough for library deployment. In the spring of 2012, STL purchased 20 iPads (iPad 2 – 2nd generation), with the Apple Education Purchase Program. Ten of those 20 iPads were assigned to the reference/instruction librarians; the other ten were prepared for lending to students and faculty.