Library Out Loud

Wiley is changing how they provide access to textbooks. Ebook versions may not be available.

 Wiley are moving their e-textbooks to a subscription-only model for libraries. This means we would pay every year for access to their entire e-textbook collection and this isn’t sustainable for us. We would not retain any permanent access to titles if we cancelled.

If you choose a Wiley textbook for your course, the Library may be unable to provide an electronic version of the textbook. Wiley etextbooks the library has already purchased should not be affected. Students will still be able to buy individual access to Wiley etextbooks. 

If you are considering a Wiley textbook for your course please contact us. We will help you look into the options available. 

This move is part of a trend of ebook publishers moving away from providing perpetual access to individual titles. Earlier this year the publisher and content aggregator Proquest announced they would be stopping the provision of one-time perpetual purchases of print books and ebooks, as well as their demand driven acquisitions (DDA) and evidence based acquisitions (EBA) programmes. Instead libraries will have to subscribe to entire collections.  

Annual subscriptions to a very large collection of titles is a common model with academic journals and can cause serious problems for libraries. Typically a large proportion of the titles are not used or have minimal use, but the value of some titles means that libraries are reluctant to cancel. In an electronic subscription model the price paid is for access not ownership making libraries more reluctant to cancel.  Publishers can take advantage of this to increase subscription costs.