With the generous support of the Revson Foundation, the E-Publishing Models Project is focused on exploring current issues associated with digital publishing business models and access to electronically published materials in libraries. Working collaboratively with publishers and librarians and led by Urs Gasser and John Palfrey, the goal of this initiative is to identify key problems and potential solutions and to lay the groundwork for a suite of activities aimed at developing new models of e-book lending for use in libraries that are acceptable to libraries and publishers alike. After assembling a multi-disciplinary working group of experts and stakeholders in Fall 2011 and conducting an initial literature review and market analysis, the project team convened a meeting with approximately 35 stakeholders from leading publishers, libraries, and academia to discuss key issues and potential solutions relating to access to e-books in libraries. The Berkman team is currently developing follow-up collaborations with these stakeholders based on the potential next steps identified at the meeting.

The takeaways from this workshop, related research, and subsequent conversations have resulted in this Briefing Document, which provides an overview of the state of e-book lending in libraries, e-publishing models currently in use, and selected problems.