1. e-Book And Library Return on
Investment (ROI)
Che Zainab Hj Abdullah & Norliya Ahmad Kassim
Faculty of Information Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia
2. Introduction
Using and providing e-book is complementing the Government
Transformation Programme (GTP) like Digital Malaysia. Digital Malaysia is a
concept of realising a virtual space of Malaysia, consisting of various geospatial
and non-geospatial information which can be connected through e-
government initiatives such as Malaysia Geospatial Data Infrastructure
(MyGDI). The librarians are now collaborating to the success of Digital
Malaysia by providing the 24/7 accessibility to e-resources (e-book, e-journal,
and other e-information) in solving the educational resources problem.
3. Objectives of this paper:
i. To examine the perception on library return on
investment ( time saving, cost saving, job commitment
and increase in quality) pertaining to e-book.
ii. To determine the relationship between library return
on investment and e-book
4. Literature review
Time Saving
Strouse (2003) presented that quantitative measurements for the library's ROI which include
time saved by library users; the money users saved by using the library instead of alternative
sources; and revenue generated with the assistance of the library.
Cost Saving
Bakeri and Abdoulaye (2002) stated that cost was a prominent ingredient in any acquisition
work. Its role becomes more dominant when the acquisition is for e-resources. As libraries
develop their collections that not only integrate, but also begin to replace print with electronic
resources, libraries must compete not only with the cost of the databases, e-journals, and e-
books and other electronic resources that are routinely purchased or licensed but also with the
cost of hardware, software, technological innovations and the maintenance of these large files
and systems over time.
5. Literature review (cont...
Job Commitment
Commitment is an internal decision which cannot be forced on a person. It occurs
when one's thoughts and emotions point in to the same direction (Adio & Popoola,
2010). The job or career commitment of librarians has bearing on the way they carry
out their professional duties in the university libraries.
Increase in Quality
A study in Hong Kong, revealed that faculty members used the e-resources
extensively and that this increases their research efficiency as well as increased their
productivity and their interdisciplinary and international perspectives. Furthermore, it
was found that most respondents accessed at least half of the articles and books they
cited in grant proposals, reports, and publications from their institutional library e-
resources (Sidorko, 2010).
6. Methodology
In this study, a set of questionnaire was personally distributed to 150 selected
respondents who are dealing with e-book acquisition or handling e-book. The
questionnaire was designed on a 1 (strongly disagree) through 7 (strongly agree) Likert
scale. A combination of descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing the
data from this study. Mean ranking and standard deviation were performed to analyse
the descriptive part of the analysis, and the parametric test were used to analyse the
relationship between variables.
7. Results And Discusssion
Perception on Time Saving
Means Scores of Perception on Time Saving
Statement Mean Std. Deviation
1. I support e-book because it reduces circulation process 6.25 0.71
2. I support e-book because it eliminates the physical processing
such as packing and unpacking
6.08 1.02
3. I support e-book because it eliminates my shelving time 5.94 1.11
4. I support e-book because it reduces my time in book processing 5.75 1.09
5. I support e-book because it reduces the book processing error 5.65 1.23
6. I support e-book because it reduces my travelling time in
selection work
5.60 1.19
7. I support e-book because it reduces my time in answering calls
from vendors
5.28 1.39
Overall 5.79 1.11
8. Perception on Cost Saving
Means Scores of Perception on Cost Saving
Statement Mean Std. Deviation
1. I support e-book because it reduces labour cost 5.90 1.08
2. I support e-book because it offers low maintenance cost 5.72 1.19
3. I support e-book because it reduces demand on infrastructure 5.69 1.37
Overall 5.77 1.20
9. Perception on Job Commitment
Means Scores of Perception on Job Commitment
Statement Mean Std. Deviation
1. I support e-book because it eliminates number of books being lost 6.07 1.07
2. I support e-book because it provides ease of use 6.06 0.92
3. I would definitely like to see this department improve far more than
it is at the moment
6.05 0.94
4. With e-book services I would accept any kind of job assignment in
order to keep myself involved in the department activities
5.96 1.02
5. With e-book services, I am able to talk optimistically about future
trend in library.
5.94 1.02
6. With e-book services I am willing to put in extra effort, more than my
usual share, to ensure the success of this department.
5.90 0.98
7. With e-book services I am happy to become a member of this
department.
5.86 1.02
Overall 5.98 1.14
10. Perceptions on Increase in Quality
Mean Scores of Perceptions of Increase in Quality
Statement Mean Std. Deviation
1. I am happy with e-book because it creates visibility of
library resources.
6.02 1.04
2. I am happy with e-book because it provides more accuracy
data input.
5.94 1.00
3. I am happy with e-book because the library users become
time conscious.
5.82 1.00
4. I am happy with e-book because the library users become
more quality conscious
5.78 1.20
5. I am happy with e-book because the library users become
more demanding.
5.71 1.18
Overall 5.85 1.08
11. Relationship between Perceptions on ROI and e-book
Correlation between e-Book and ROI
TimeSav CostSav JobSatif QualityInc e-Selection
TimeSave 1
CostSave 0.538**
1
JobSatif 0.765**
0.560**
1
QualityInc 0.722**
0.608**
0.744**
1
e-Book 0.604**
0.398**
0.698**
0.569**
1
It can be seen that e-book as a composite is positively and moderately correlated with time saving
(r=0.604; p<0.01), job satisfaction (r=0.698; p<0.01) and increase in quality (r=0.569; p<0.01). It
is also positively correlated with cost saving, although only weakly (r=0.398; p<0.01).
12. Conclusion
The present study will absolutely assist all the academicians and librarians to embark
on using more e-book as students' references as they already have the tools in their
hands. This initiative is aligned with the latest news announced by the Ministry of
Education which is considering providing all school students with laptops instead of
relying on textbooks. The librarians and parties concerned should realise that the
investment in education is a pre-requisite for prosperity of the country and it is also
the passport to stability and success of the nation in the future.
