Public presentation at Ontario Libraries Association conference, January 2009. The University of Toronto Libraries eBooks study findings from 2008 user experience study. We report on the student and scholar uses and differences in eBooks adoption and use, addressing questions such as: What do students prefer to read and use, and why? Are students actually reading the ebooks? Are they reading online? How do they want publishers to improve eBooks? Public report available on request to author.

1. Student Experience of eBooks How they are found, used and (not) read Peter H. Jones, Ph.D. Redesign Research Ontario Library Association Superconference Toronto, January 29, 2009 designdialogues.com

8. Students like books for … Portability Accessibility Ultimate usability Easy to browse & scan High quality artwork Can bookmark, visually return Personalizable Mark-up, Inscribed Durable & persistent Can be loaned & returned Meaningful identity on shelf Social identity marker Beauty of the package & cover Feel of the book & paper Sensual attributes – smell & feel

9. And then there’s Google. Students, grad students, just about everyone … Uses Google or Web search, for anything that’s findable. Students used Google to find UTL site! How do we adapt to this? Atlantic: “( UCL ) found that people using the sites exhibited “a form of skimming activity,” hopping from one source to another and rarely returning to any source they’d already visited. They typically read no more than one or two pages of an article or book before they would “bounce” out to another site. Sometimes they’d save a long article, but there’s no evidence that they ever went back and actually read it.” Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

10. Why is this? Time dedicated to research is limited. Few do exhaustive searches. We can pre-qualify a title before acquiring. Students are overwhelmed with class. Cognitive & information overload. And Web content. In managing cognitive load, Google permits natural selection . Students are Foraging & Hunting. Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

13. Students start research with… Respondents were allowed to select > 1 for each condition, reflecting actual use of multiple resources. eBook responses show more start with Web eBooks than UTL. This reflects starting with Web searches in general (& awareness). Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research Resource Usually start research with Often use to start Often use throughout research Use as supplemental Rarely or never use Web search engines 32.4% 29.7% 17.8% Wikipedia 14.0% 23.3% 15.8% Google Scholar 11.5% 16.6% 17.5% eBooks (Web) 6.0% 15.3% 31.0% 25.0% 22.7% eBooks (UTL) 6.5% 9.8% 28.4% 30.7% 24.7%

14. Books used ~twice eBooks Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

15. Journals used frequently Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

17. Is usability a barrier? Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

20. Looking for books, by subject Or assigned … Undergrads Scholars Using more journals , Fewer books overall Aggregators / Content delivery MyiLibrary (B24x7, NetLibrary, etc.) eJournals Open web searches Locating via Google Differences between students (undergrads) and scholars. Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

22. Students discovering eBooks are those looking for books, not journals. Few Sciences students using eBooks – primarily Humanities, Arts. Nearly all students indicated a strong preference for the printed book , most for the same reasons. “ I never use eBooks – find it difficult to use them – long and cumbersome.” “ Only times I see eBooks is if a copy is available online. I don’t like reading things online – cannot highlight or annotate.” "In a traditional book, you can tell what chapter you're in - not in eBooks like this.” eBooks discovered in Catalogue Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

23. “ I’m finding the UI very inconvenient. Some services will scan each page as a separate PDF file.” “ This is aesthetically bad, have to scroll in single page PDF. Page does not fill the screen.” Confusing variety of eBook formats, services, UIs Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

25. Science students found chapter sections a desirable format – portable & similar to familiar PDF articles. Users were unaware of publisher portals & did not search these sites directly. Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

29. Students have many other options for locating resources for a question. Consistent patterns: Undergrads have greater need for books, but have a harder time navigating services. Grad students have greater need for journals, are not using books as much. Regardless, a Google start often ends at UTL destination. Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

32. “ Usually when searching, I test first by entering a term I see on the book page. It would be fantastic if I could link Google Books to books at U of T.” Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

36. If UTL were searchable via Google Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

38. How scholars are reading One commonality – Browser personalizes research experience Multiple tabs open showing full range of start & destination. Not the best reading platform, but powerful for finding . Browser mediates access, navigation, skimming, download, copying. Humanities – Multiple libraries & services Engineering – Multiple documents & articles Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research

39. “ What should the e-Be?” Users are showing us their alternatives, now. And Why. Start & find via Google. Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research Must beat the Wikipedia baseline. Must search full text & preview the content.

40. “ What should the e-Be?” Scholars have need to skim & scan large volumes of info. Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research Download, save for later. And then read some . Students are not reading from handhelds or Kindle. (Yet)

43. For report please contact: [email_address] Redesign Research redesignresearch.com designdialogues.com Copyright © 2009 Redesign Research