{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T19:20:43Z","timestamp":1778527243258,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":14,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,1]],"date-time":"2019-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1554076800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EL"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This paper aims to identify patterns, trends and potential implications related to post-checkout non-usage (material that is checked out by a user, but subsequently never opened and\/or downloaded) of library digital content.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A large urban Canadian public library\u2019s data (2013-2017) from Rakuten OverDrive was analyzed. Pending items (items that are checked out, but neither opened nor downloaded) were compared with total checkouts to determine post-checkout non-usage rates.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Checkouts and overall rates of post-checkout non-usage of e-books and e-audiobooks have risen significantly and consistently. Juvenile and non-fiction e-books demonstrate higher post-checkout non-usage rates than adult and fiction e-books, respectively. The library spends up to US$10,700 per year on metered access e-books that are never opened by users. This number has grown significantly over the years.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>E-materials in libraries have been growing rapidly, but their current lending models are still largely a direct application of concepts in traditional library services that have developed based on physical materials, such as checkouts, due dates, renewals, holds and wait times. However, e-materials do not have the limitation of physical materials that prevents other users from accessing a checked-out item, which makes many of the traditional concepts no longer applicable. New concepts and lending models should be developed that allow users to access any library e-materials at any time, and are financially functional and sustainable for both libraries and e-content providers.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/el-10-2018-0208","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,3]],"date-time":"2019-06-03T06:56:26Z","timestamp":1559544986000},"page":"255-262","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["How much of library digital content is checked out but never used?"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"37","author":[{"given":"Angela","family":"Lieu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dangzhi","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref001","first-page":"44","article-title":"Updates on e-books: challenges and changes","volume":"43","year":"2014","journal-title":"Knowledge Quest"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref002","first-page":"1","article-title":"E-books in libraries: equal access to digital content?","volume":"33","year":"2016","journal-title":"Information Today"},{"issue":"6\/7","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"398","DOI":"10.1108\/01435121111158547","article-title":"E-books in libraries: an overview of the current situation","volume":"32","year":"2011","journal-title":"Library Management"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref004","first-page":"26","article-title":"What\u2019s next for e-book acquisitions? Challenges for libraries, vendors, and publishers","volume":"25","year":"2013","journal-title":"Against the Grain"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref005","first-page":"23","article-title":"E-book usage: counting the challenges and opportunities","volume":"30","year":"2017","journal-title":"Insights: The UKSG Journal"},{"key":"key2020092323251200600_ref006","volume-title":"E-Books in 2014: Access and Licensing at Canadian Public Libraries","year":"2014"},{"key":"key2020092323251200600_ref007","volume-title":"E-Books in Libraries: A Practical Guide","year":"2011"},{"key":"key2020092323251200600_ref008","unstructured":"Kozlowski, M. (2015), \u201cPeople are not reading the e-books they buy anymore\u201d, available at: https:\/\/goodereader.com\/blog\/e-book-news\/people-are-not-reading-the-e-books-they-buy-anymore (accessed 21 September 2017)."},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1629\/uksg.240","article-title":"E-book usage on a global scale: patterns, trends and opportunities","volume":"28","year":"2015","journal-title":"Insights the Uksg Journal"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref010","first-page":"64","article-title":"Biz of acq - gathering data: How two USMAI libraries are using e-book statistics","volume":"25","year":"2013","journal-title":"Against the Grain"},{"issue":"7","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref011","first-page":"42","article-title":"An e-book primer","volume":"137","year":"2012","journal-title":"Library Journal"},{"key":"key2020092323251200600_ref012","unstructured":"Rhomberg, A. (2015), \u201cIf you sell the book, will they read it?\u201d, available at: www.digitalbookworld.com\/2015\/if-you-sell-the-book-will-they-read-it (accessed 21 September 2017)."},{"key":"key2020092323251200600_ref013","volume-title":"Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from around the World","year":"2014"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2020092323251200600_ref014","first-page":"578","article-title":"Assessing the user experience of e-books in academic libraries","volume":"78","year":"2017","journal-title":"College and Research Libraries"}],"container-title":["The Electronic Library"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/EL-10-2018-0208\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/EL-10-2018-0208\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T01:08:13Z","timestamp":1753405693000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/el\/article\/37\/2\/255-262\/96820"}},"subtitle":["A call for refined lending models"],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,1]]},"references-count":14,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/EL-10-2018-0208"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/el-10-2018-0208","relation":{},"ISSN":["0264-0473","0264-0473"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0264-0473","type":"print"},{"value":"0264-0473","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,1]]}}}