Wiley Removes Textbook and Ebook Access - News for MRU Students and Faculty

In late August, the publisher Wiley removed approximately 1400 textbook and ebook titles from MRU Library. After significant feedback worldwide (a few examples are outlined in this Inside Higher Ed article and this joint statement), this ebook removal has been rescheduled for June 2023. At that time, these titles will be removed and libraries will not be offered the option to purchase ebook access. 

This is just one example of a troubling series of actions taken by some publishers to reduce and prohibit access to content. Publisher initiatives such as “Inclusive Access” and the skyrocketing costs of academic e-textbooks threaten the accessibility of textbooks and place the burden of purchasing them firmly on students.

Wiley has given no indication that they will discontinue the practices of pulling high use academic titles from subscription packages in the future. While the Library can acquire print copies of these titles and place them on reserve, these changes indicate significant reductions to access compared to what was previously available. 

For many years, the MRU Library has relied on Academic Complete, a large academic ebook database, to provide the campus community with thousands of books from a large range of publishers. This is a high use ebook package that provides cost-effective access to a range of titles across university disciplines. The removal of these titles will impact many highly circulated academic titles and textbooks, as well as titles that are actively used in MRU courses and research. 

If a title you’ve relied on is on this list to be removed, there are actions that can be taken. 

• Contact your Subject Librarian to discuss options for maintaining access, including purchasing a print copy. 
• Use our excerpt digitization service to request digitization of a segment or chapter for sharing via your D2L course.
   

You may also choose to substitute course content with:

• Materials from the Library’s collection - use LibrarySearch to determine if there is alternate content that can be substituted for the removed Wiley content
• Open educational resources - search though existing Open Educational textbooks, modules and courses
   

When publishers selectively limit the Library's ability to provide access to electronic content, students bear the brunt of these costs. Frustratingly and perhaps not surprisingly, these sales limits are most often applied to textbooks. Such actions present immense challenges to MRU’s strategic goal of making learning environments more equitable. For more information on minimizing this financial burden for your students, or for help identifying accessible course materials and resources, contact your area’s Subject Librarian.