The Academic Book of the Future project is funded by the AHRC in collaboration with the British Library, and looks at how scholarly work in the Arts and Humanities will be produced, read, and preserved in coming years.

Anna Faherty researched and produced the Academic Book Discovery, Evaluation and Access report as part of the project, summarising learnings from a small-scale exploratory study investigating how humanities academics encounter, evaluate and gain access to print and ebooks related to their research and teaching. The research aimed to understand the holistic user experience by interviewing academics and mapping their discovery journeys in order to identify aspects of book discovery and access that might be improved. The implications for academic libraries, publishers and booksellers are considered, as potential improvements to current systems are mooted along with opportunities for more disruptive innovation.

The study recommends libraries, publishers and booksellers who want to enhance the scholarly experience should be present when academics need them, focus on the needs of the end-user, embrace service models, adapt and collaborate.

Find out more on the report’s dedicated webpage.