What factors influence the format preferences between e-books and their print equivalents within an academic library context? This session examines and analyzes findings from a two semester study in Claremont Colleges Library, comparing the usage of print and electronic equivalents of the same Course Adopted Book title.
3. SHOULD WE BE BUYING
PRINT BOOKS
OR
E-BOOKS
FOR THE LIBRARY?
4. SHOULD WE BE BUYING
PRINT BOOKS
OR
E-BOOKS
FOR THE LIBRARY?
5. Availability of content
Urgency of the information need
Purpose of the content use
Discipline area of the content
Scope of the content use
Personal preferences of the user
6. Required and recommended readings - part of the curriculum
High usage expected within the period of the study
Print books on Reserve
Print books shelved in the
stacks with the regular
collection, 7-day loan and
not allowed on ILL
E-books
7. SPRING 2013 FALL 2013
94%
2%4%
Print CABs
E-book CABs
Both print and e-book CABs
88%
5%
7%
Print CABs
E-book CABs
Both print and e-book CABs
8. SPRING 2013 FALL 2013
94%
2%
4%
Print CABs
E-book CABs
Both print and e-book CABs
88%
5%
7%
Print CABs
E-book CABs
Both print and e-book CABs
96 titles 123 titles
9. Titles from the Course Adopted Books list:
Excluded from the study:
titles in the public domain;
multiple print copies;
available e-books, no MARC records in the catalogue
10. Availability of content
Urgency of the information need
Purpose of the content use
Discipline area of the content
Scope of the content use
Personal preferences of the user
11. Do students tend to use print or e-
books for their course readings?
(looking to identify trends, but not to explain them)
Decision regarding format
purchases for the CAB service.
15. Print books:
# of circulations
# of renewals
# of times the book is
re-shelved – i.e. internal
use
length of the loan
period
o in days
o in hours (for reserve)
E-books
# of online sessions
# of downloads
# of section requests
# of unique users
# of pages viewed
# of pages copied/printed
length of online session in
minutes
length of downloads in
days
16. 1. Has the title been used at least once?
[yes or no]
2. How many times per average each
title has been used? [number of uses
(checkouts, renewals, online access
sessions, downloads) per used title]
3. Average scope of the usage per title
[length of the loan/download, length
of the online session, pages accessed]
17. Q1: Has the title been
used at least once?
[yes or no]
18. SPRING 2013
(P+E SAMPLE OF 96 TITLES)
28%
20%
37%
15%
Not usedE- only
Print onlyBoth formats
19%
10%
47%
24%
Not used
E- only
Both formats
Print only
FALL 2013
(P+E SAMPLE OF 123 TITLES)
19. 24%
23%
40%
13%
Not used
SPRING 2013 FALL 2013
28%
20%
37%
15%
Not usedE- only
Print onlyBoth formats
18%
11%
54%
17%
19%
10%
47%
24%
Not used
E- only
Both formats
Print only
Including borrowed print
Locally owned
or licensed content
20. 71% 66%
54% 57%
29% 34%
46% 43%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
electronic print electronic print
Spring 2013 Fall 2013
used not used
27. How does being a CAB affect the usage
of a print book in comparison with
other print books?
Does the fact there is an e-book
available for the same title affect the
usage of a print CAB?
28.
29. How does being a CAB affect the usage of
an e-book in comparison with other e-
books?
Does the fact there is a print book
available for the same title affect the usage
of an e-CAB?
30. SPRING 2013 FALL 2013
94%
2%
4%
Print CABs
E-book CABs
Both print and e-book CABs
88%
5%
7%
Print CABs
E-book CABs
Both print and e-book CABs
96 titles 123 titles
36. Course Adopted Books are a good investment
for the Library – in both formats
The data does not show clear preference to one
format vs. the other across the disciplines
We have no justification to prefer neither print
nor e- across the board and need to drill down
into the data on a subject level
37. More data – including titles from syllabi and
reading lists, and including data from other e-book
providers.
More data analysis – on a subject level
More detailed analysis on the not used titles
Correlating the usage data with other sources –
surveys, qualitative data, anecdotal evidence – to
try and figure out the “why”
38. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Used vs. not used p+e CABs - Fall 2013 Used Not used
0
2
4
6
8
Would you like the Library to purchase the course books you
assign to your students?
Yes. I would like the Library to purchase the course books in print format
Yes. I would like the Library to purchase the course books in electronic format
No. I think each student should purchase the books I assign
Unique opportunity to try and understand students' format preferences. Sample was not random – based on e-book availability from EBL, Ebrary, EBSCO, and Springer.What was excluded – titles in the public domain, with multiple print copies, available e-books, but not in the catalogue
Unique opportunity to try and understand students' format preferences. Sample was not random – based on e-book availability from EBL, Ebrary, EBSCO, and Springer.What was excluded – titles in the public domain, with multiple print copies, available e-books, but not in the catalogue