Welcome to the February 2021 issue of our e-books for FE newsletter.
Usage of our e-books was high again in January, with an increase of 51% over January 2020. It has been a record-breaking quarter, and we thank all colleges for their commitment to promoting the collection.
We welcome two new subscribers who joined us in December: St Dominic’s 6th Form College in Harrow, and Ada National College for Digital Skills in London.
Top 200 users for Q2 (November 2020 – January 2021)
The spreadsheet with the Top 200 users for Q2 is now available for download on the support site:
https://support.ebooksforfe.jisc.ac.uk/index.php/librarian-support/quarterly-reports/
The top 10 users for the quarter, by number of user sessions, are as follows:
| Rank | Institution | User sessions |
| 1 | Varndean College | 9436 |
| 2 | New City College | 8860 |
| 3 | LTE Group | 8356 |
| 4 | Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College | 7614 |
| 5 | West Nottinghamshire College | 6972 |
| 6 | The WKCIC Group | 6878 |
| 7 | Godalming College | 6491 |
| 8 | Middlesbrough College | 6428 |
| 9 | Hereford Sixth Form | 6090 |
| 10 | HCUC – Harrow College & Uxbridge College | 5999 |
e-books in the news
In January, the Guardian newspaper published a lengthy article on the increasingly prohibitive cost of e-books. Although the focus is the HE sector, the issues raised are also applicable to FE. It is available online at the following link:
e-book demonstrations
Over the past two months, Service Co-ordinator Andrew Jackson has been giving a significant number of e-book demonstrations to curriculum staff and library staff. At Jisc we are aware that it is often challenging to reach curriculum staff as a cohort in order to promote digital resources: very often it is left to individuals to engage with blended learning opportunities or not, and the take-up of e-books can be variable as a result.
If you feel it would be of benefit to have an e-book demonstration for curriculum staff, student support staff, or the Head of Teaching & Learning at your college, please email your Account Manager with some suggested dates and any specific requirements, and they will arrange a Teams session with Andrew.
Demonstrations typically last 30 minutes, with Q&A afterwards.
There is also a Top Tips page for curriculum staff on the e-book support site:
https://support.ebooksforfe.jisc.ac.uk/index.php/guides/top-tips-for-teaching-practitioners/
Likewise, if you are a new subscriber to e-books for FE, or if you are new in post and uncertain how best to manage e-books within your library system or VLE, please contact your Account Manager if you would like an online Q&A session with Andrew.
Top 20 users in January 2021
Well done to all organisations who reached a spot in the top 20.
| Rank | Organisation | User sessions |
| 1 | New City College London | 3227 |
| 2 | LTE Group | 3068 |
| 3 | Varndean College | 2941 |
| 4 | Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College | 2773 |
| 5 | West Nottinghamshire College | 2755 |
| 6 | The WKCIC Group | 2684 |
| 7 | Farnborough Sixth Form College | 2650 |
| 8 | Godalming College | 2460 |
| 9 | Hereford Sixth Form College | 2314 |
| 10 | Middlesbrough College | 2199 |
| 11 | HCUC – Harrow College & Uxbridge College | 1878 |
| 12 | Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group | 1837 |
| 13 | Richard Huish College | 1752 |
| 14 | South Thames College | 1714 |
| 15 | Coleg Cambria | 1698 |
| 16 | York College | 1692 |
| 17 | Grwp Llandrillo Menai | 1682 |
| 18 | The College of Richard Collyer | 1588 |
| 19 | Milton Keynes College | 1534 |
| 20 | Neath Port Talbot College | 1525 |
Mergers: If your organisation has recently merged with another, ProQuest may not have the most current merger information and your merger may not be reflected in the usage data. Please check with ProQuest and request that they update your account to reflect the merger. Their e-book support contact address is: ebooksupport@proquest.com
Top 20 titles in January 2021
| Rank | Title | User sessions |
| 1 | CACHE Level 3 Technical Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care | 9634 |
| 2 | CACHE Level 3 Child Care and Education : Early Years Educator | 7381 |
| 3 | BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 1 | 5410 |
| 4 | BTEC Nationals Applied Science Student Book 1 | 3864 |
| 5 | CACHE Level 2 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner | 3760 |
| 6 | AQA A Level Biology (Year 1 and Year 2) | 3585 |
| 7 | BTEC Nationals Business Student Book 1 : For the 2016 specifications | 3577 |
| 8 | BTEC Level 3 National Health and Social Care: Student Book 2 | 2952 |
| 9 | BTEC Level 3 National Health and Social Care: Student Book 1 | 2753 |
| 10 | BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 2 : For the 2016 specifications | 2672 |
| 11 | Anatomy and Physiology (5th edition) | 2240 |
| 12 | OCR Sociology for A Level | 2123 |
| 13 | AQA A-level Psychology Book 1 : For A-level Year 1 and AS | 2115 |
| 14 | Psychology: the Science of Mind and Behaviour (8th Edition) | 2081 |
| 15 | CACHE Level 2 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care | 2076 |
| 16 | BTEC Nationals Business Student Book 2 : For the 2016 specifications | 2044 |
| 17 | AQA A-level Psychology Book 2 | 1655 |
| 18 | AQA A-Level Geography : For A-level and AS – Fourth Edition | 1627 |
| 19 | AQA A-level Sociology : Book 2 | 1618 |
| 20 | OCR AS/A Level Law Book 1 | 1586 |
Support queries
Email: content.feandskills@jisc.ac.uk
Website: https://support.ebooksforfe.jisc.ac.uk/
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