Beth Filar-Williams, Distance Education Librarian

Lea Leininger, Health Sciences Librarian

E-BOOKS: DO THEY USE THEM?

DO THEY CARE?

University Libraries, University of North Carolina at GreensboroNovember 3, 2011

POLL: WHAT'S THE STATUS OF EBOOKS @ YOUR LIBRARY?

A. we have some ebooks, I think?

B. we have several ebook packages

C. we have surveyed our students about ebooks/usage

D. we loan e-readers to our students

E. we have lots of ebooks, surveyed our students, and loan devices

UNC GREENSBORO UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

• Medium-sized research intensive university

• > 17,000 FTE students

• > 1,760 distance education & online students, 118% increase since 2003

University Libraries

• Jackson Library (main) and Music Library

• 1.5 million in-person visitors, 5.75 million virtual visits last year

• 370 databases, 31,000 ft journals

E-BOOKS AT THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Access to > 331,000 electronic books

More than 30 platforms

STUDENT E-BOOK SURVEY @UNCGWhat are students doing with e-books?

Where do the Libraries fit in?

Objectives:

• Gain user feedback

• Adapt e-book discovery & help

• Market/promote

• Inform library purchases

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36813960@N00/4505413539/

METHODS

1. Six questions, several adapted from a study of undergraduate students at Simmons College 1

2. Recipient selection, email, demographics from Office of Institutional Research

3. Survey built in Qualtrics, link sent to

• 4,000 UG students (random sample)

• 3,454 graduate students (all)

4. MS Excel for sorting qualitative data

1. Hernon P, Hopper R, Leach MR, Saunders LL, Zhang J. E-book Use by Students: Undergraduates in Economics, Literature, and Nursing. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 2007;33(1):3-13.

INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE

Dear UNCG Student,

We want to know what you think of electronic books ("ebooks") !

Have you seen a "Kindle" or another book reader? Maybe you've seen some electronic books in our online catalog.

This brief survey will take you 1-2 minutes to complete and will help us understand how to better serve your needs in the future. All responses are strictly confidential!

Thank you!-- The UNCG University Libraries

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60364452@N00/264892571/

QUESTIONS

1. How often do you use ebooks?• Less than Once a Month (or never)

• Once a Month

• 2-3 Times a Month

• Once a Week

• 2-3 Times a Week

• Daily

2. Which device(s) do you use to read or use e-books? Any ebook use counts – recreational reading, study, professional development, etc. Check all that apply.

• Desktop computer

• Laptop computer

• Blackberry

• Android

• iPhone

• Tablet such as iPad

• Kindle

• Nook

• Other

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60364452@N00/264892571/

QUESTIONS, CONT’D

3. What formats/ebook reading methods are you aware of? Check all that apply.

• PDFs

• Web pages

• Books that can be downloaded to a phone or to a reading device

4. How do you find your ebooks? Check all that apply.

• Amazon.com

• Barnes and Noble

• UNCG University Libraries catalog

• Greensboro Public Library

• NC LIVE

• Google Books

• Other

QUESTIONS, CONT’D

5. How likely are you to use an ebook for the following? Check all that apply.

• Browse or scan, looking for information that you need

• Use keywords to search for information that you need

• Settle in for a nice long read to learn all about a topic

• Read brief parts of the text that seemed most pertinent

• Download content, when possible

• Copy and paste content to MS Word, when possible

• Print content

• Use publication info to develop bibliographies for your papers

6. Do you have any suggestions or feedback for the library regarding ebooks?

RESULTS-DEMOGRAPHICS

440 completed the survey: 5.9% response rate

Graduate Undergraduate0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

267

99

20

15

37

6

off campushybridon campus

RESULTS-DEMOGRAPHICS

440 completed the survey: 5.9% response rate

No major8%

Humanities17%

Social Sciences10%

Natural Sciences4%

Math, Computer Science

5%

Professional Degrees20%

Education11%

Health Sciences18%

Business and Economics7%

RESULTS-FREQUENCY OF USE

How often do you use ebooks?

Less than Once a Month (or never)

Once a Month

2-3 Times a Month

Once a Week

2-3 Times a Week

Daily

200

40

36

27

23

38

14

5

2

2

6

6

23

6

3

1

4

6

On Campus Both Off campus

54% of all users “Less than once a month or never”

11% of all users “Daily”

RESULTS-DEVICES

Which device(s) do you use to read or use e-books? Check all that apply

9% indicated Other – Most common write-in responses were

• I don’t use e-books (12)

• iPod (8)

Laptop computer Desktop computer

Kindle Tablet such as iPad

iPhone Nook

Android Other

Blackberry

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

RESULTS-DISCOVERY SOURCES

How do you find your ebooks? Check all that apply

61 “Other” sources mentioned. Most common:

• Apple - iBooks app (12), iTunes (3)

• Other institutions – other public libraries (5), WFU (1)

Amazon.com UNCG Library Catalog

Google Books Barnes and Noble

Other NC Live Greensboro Public Library

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

RESULTS-TYPICAL USE

How likely are you to use an ebook for the following? Check all that apply

Browse or scan for needed info

Keyword search for needed info

Read brief parts of the text

Use publication info to develop bibliographies

Download

Settle in for a nice long read to learn all about a topic

Print

Copy and paste to MS Word

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

RESULTS-FEEDBACK

They are great!

• So helpful to get the one chapter I'm looking for, rather than trek to the library

• Sometimes the index …isn't great but the search in ebooks usually works great

• Ability to carry all the books you need…on one device…brilliant!

make them more available

• Sometimes, having a copy of a book saved to your computer is invaluable

• I don’t like how they can time out

• Avoid DRM like the plague

• Publicize which e-book format you most frequently purchase

Stick to paper books and make the world a better

place

• Reading ebooks (is) ruining our eyes

• Difficult to highlight and make notes

• Not all books transfer well to ebooks

• A number of people cannot afford the equipment to use (e-books)

• You can easily get distracted

• I’d seriously consider changing schools

121 responses. Examples:

RESULTS-FEEDBACK

They are great!

• So helpful to get the one chapter I'm looking for, rather than trek to the library

• Sometimes the index …isn't great but the search in ebooks usually works great

• Ability to carry all the books you need…on one device…brilliant!

make them more available

• Sometimes, having a copy of a book saved to your computer is invaluable

• I don’t like how they can time out

• Avoid DRM like the plague

• Publicize which e-book format you most frequently purchase

Stick to paper books and make the world a

better place

• Reading ebooks (is) ruining our eyes

• Difficult to highlight and make notes

• Not all books transfer well to ebooks

• A number of people cannot afford the equipment to use (e-books)

• You can easily get distracted

• I’d seriously consider changing schools

121 responses. Examples:

RESULTS-FEEDBACK

They are great!

• So helpful to get the one chapter I'm looking for, rather than trek to the library

• Sometimes the index …isn't great but the search in ebooks usually works great

• Ability to carry all the books you need…on one device…brilliant!

make them more available

• Sometimes, having a copy of a book saved to your computer is invaluable

• I don’t like how they can time out

• Avoid DRM like the plague

• Publicize which e-book format you most frequently purchase

Stick to paper books and make the world a better

place

• Reading ebooks (is) ruining our eyes

• Difficult to highlight and make notes

• Not all books transfer well to ebooks

• A number of people cannot afford the equipment to use (e-books)

• You can easily get distracted

• I’d seriously consider changing schools

121 responses. Examples:

RESULTS-FEEDBACK, CONT’D

Downloadable audiobooks

Ability to annotate/manipulate content

E-book checkout

Downloadable e-books (no device specified)

E-textbooks

E-reader books (esp "for my own Kindle")

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Requests

OUTCOMES

Library Discovery & Help

• Updates to library help pages - more comprehensive list of collections, access and format details in “more info”

• Training for public services staff

• Publicity, marketing

Future Library Purchases

• Avoid blanket “online only” collection policy

• When negotiating, consider patron needs –downloadable, no concurrent user limits/ time outs, variety of formats

• Consider e-readers and e-reader lending as academic offerings mature and funding allows

OUTCOMES

Library Discovery & Help

• Updates to library help pages - more comprehensive list of collections, access and format details in “more info”

• Training for public services staff

• Publicity, marketing

Future Library Purchases

• Avoid blanket “online only” collection policy

• When negotiating, consider patron needs –downloadable, no concurrent user limits/ time outs, variety of formats

• Consider e-readers and e-reader lending as academic offerings mature and funding allows

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Beth Filar-Williams <efwilli3@uncg.edu> and Lea Leininger <laleinin@uncg.edu> and would like to thank the other members of the E-Book Task Force:

• Christine Fischer, Head of Acquisitions

• Chad Therrien, Web Usability and Library Assessment Analyst

• Beth Bernhardt, Electronic Resources Librarian

POLL: AFTER ATTENDING THIS PRESENTATION I WILL..

A. survey my users on ebooks

B. review & purchase more ebook collections

C. create an ebook page to help users

D. present at the next conference on ebooks at my library

E. several/all of the above!