Presentation to Library Assembly, University of Maryland Libraries, February 18, 2014. Tim Hackman and Kelsey Corlett-Rivera.

1. Faculty & Student Use and
Opinions of E-Books at UMD
Tim Hackman
Kelsey Corlett-Rivera
Presentation to Library Assembly
February 18, 2014

3. Background
• “But I Want a Real Book!”
• Collection discussions among Humanities &
Social Sciences Librarians

4. LRF Proposal & Process
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•
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Faculty & Collaborator
Funds Requested & Budget
Statement of Purpose
Description of Topic
Research Method
Benefit to the UM Libraries / Discipline
Selected Bibliography

5. Survey
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Students & Faculty in ARHU, BSOS, Education
Online survey open Mar 29 to Apr 27, 2012
Incentives!
Available at http://ter.ps/ebookssurvey

6. Valid Responses (1,343)
1000
900
800
700
600
Undergraduate
500
Graduate
400
Faculty/Staff
300
200
100
0
ARHU
BSOS
Education

7. Questions 8 and 9: Compared to three years ago, my use of
e-books for Research/Recreational Reading has _____.
All Responses
Research
Recreational Reading
1%
1%
39%
47%
52%
60%
Increased
Stayed the Same
Decreased

8. Question 10: Do you own any of the following e-book readers?
All Responses
Own an E-Reader
48%
Don't Own an EReader
52%
1%
1%
3% 3%
Libre (Aluretek)
6%
Kindle
Nook
PocketBook
13%
Sony Reader
iPad or Other Tablet
2%
0%
56%
15%
Smart Phone or iPod
Laptop or Desktop
Software
Other

9. Questions 10 and 15: If you do/don't own an e-book reader, what format
do you prefer?
All Responses
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Prefer e-books
Prefer print
No Preference
It Depends

10. Implications for Collection Development
Category
Finding
Which collections? The top five most popular e-book collections were EBSCO
(38%), Oxford Handbooks Online (21%), Gale Virtual
Reference Library (19%), Springer eBooks (8%), and ebrary
(8%).
Scholarly
monographs
Edited collections
Other formats
Literature
Action
Buy e-books that are available
through the EBSCO e-book
collection, but keep in mind that
many patrons are not aware of
which collection they are using.
The largest number of respondents (41%) preferred scholarly Buy print versions of scholarly
monographs in print. This number was highest for
monographs. Education scholars
faculty/staff (44%) and Arts and Humanities (43%) and lowest may be more amenable to
for graduate students (40%) and Education (34%). Graduate electronic versions of scholarly
students and Education chose “I prefer e-books” in the
monographs.
largest numbers, 30% and 36%, respectively.
Responses to this question were evenly split, with 32%
Consider buying both print and epreferring e-book and 33% preferring print. Faculty preferred book versions of edited
print (36%) to e-book (25%), while graduate students
collections, at least in the near
preferred e-book (37%) to print (31%). Among the three
future. Education scholars and
colleges, Education stood out, preferring e-book (39%) to
grad students may be more
print (24%).
amenable to electronic versions.
Respondents overwhelmingly favored e-book to print for
Buy electronic versions of these
conference proceedings, general reference, specialized
formats.
reference, citation manuals and style guides (by a margin of
between 22% and 30%)
With the exception of Education, respondents favored print Buy literature in print, except for
to e-book for literature by a margin of 18%. Undergraduate
Education scholars.
students and Arts and Humanities favored print by the largest
margins, 23% and 24%, respectively.

11. Implications for Collection Development
Category
Finding
Action
E-book features
When respondents indicated that their preference for
e-books or print “depended,” “e-book features,” such
as full-text search, was a popular reason, receiving at
least 13% of responses for all formats.
Buy e-books that provide
these advanced features (as
opposed to static, scanned
PDFs, for example).
What would make
A top response to questions 17 and 18 (at 16% and
patrons more likely to 12%, respectively) was “greater availability”: not
use e-books?
enough books in the respondents’ fields are available
as e-books.
Purchase more electronic
versions in a wider variety of
fields.
Those who own e-readers are more likely to use and
prefer e-books, and many respondents (15%) indicated
in question 16 that they would be more likely to use ebooks if they had an e-book reader.
Purchase e-books in
collections and formats that
are compatible with popular
e-readers and tablets (such
as Kindle, Nook, iPad).