Evaluating ENGnetBASE, an Engineering E‐book Database

Abstract

This paper examines the content, currency, and usability of CRC Press's ENGnetBASE, a collection of engineering handbooks published in electronic format. CRC Press's editorial staff's responses to a set of questions on e‐content publication practices show that the print and electronic formats are published concurrently, print titles are not dropped from the database, and some CRC titles are released to other electronic book databases. The usage statistics from ENGnetBASE for Texas A&M indicate that users accessed the database from various locations, viewed titles throughout the day, and in many instances used the library catalog to access the titles. Best practices and lessons learned from this study include suggestions on how to maximize access to ENGnetBASE, such as by adding MARC records into the library catalog to provide an additional access point and by marketing to populations identified by the usage statistics.

Keywords:

• Electronic books
• usage statistics
• currency