1. A tale of three surveys: How librarians, faculty and students perceive and use electronic resources March 2009
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

2. Overview of ebrary e-book surveys
Conducted
Objective
Completed by
2007 Global Librarian E-book Survey
Spring 2007
Better understand e-book usage, purchase drivers and inhibitors, and digitization and distribution needs of libraries
~583 respondents
48% non-U.S.
~552 institutions
2007 Global Faculty E-book Survey
Fall 2007
Better understand faculty experiences with e-resources and print materials
~906 respondents
43% non-U.S.
~300 institutions
2008 Global Student E-book Survey
Spring 2008
Explore students’ usage, needs and perceptions regarding e-books
~6,492 respondents
67% non-U.S.
~400 institutions
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

3. Adoption of e-books

4. Adoption of e-books 88% have access to e-books
45% have access to over 10,000 e-books
If you interpret fair as good, then 78% of the respondents described e-book usage at their libraries as good to excellent
If you interpret fair as not so good, 59% of respondents found e-book usage only fair to poor

5. Adoption of e-books (con’t)
89% of faculty say they use electronic resources for research, class preparation or instruction
64% integrate e-books into their courses
43% encourage students to use e-books in their research
31% use e-books in their own research or course preparation
29% use e-books as required course readings
51% of students say they use e-books
For those who never use e-books, the most common reason was that they did not know where to find e-books

6. Drivers of e-book usage
STUDENT VIEWPOINT
How did you learn about
e-books?
LIBRARIAN VIEWPOINT
What drives e-book usage?
Librarians
Library catalog (MARC records and OPAC integration)
Library website or blog
Professor and staff recommendation
Google or other search engines
Peers
Word of mouth
Marketing campaigns and materials
Google and other search engines
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

7. Drivers of e-book usage
Students and librarians are basically in agreement except students see librarians as the major drivers of e-book usage.
Librarians are a bit self-deprecating in their responses if they equated marketing campaigns and materials with their efforts.
Library instruction efforts were not a choice in the survey, which librarians may have ranked higher.

8. Electronic resources used for academic purposes by students
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

9. Electronic resources used for academic purposes by students
Keep in mind that this is the 51% of the students that continued with the survey.
Google is first place students look.
The good news for e-books is that students like them once they have found them. E-books are just slightly behind search engines.
E-journals are in 7th place after textbooks.

10. Electronic resources used for academic purposes by faculty
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

11. Electronic resources used for academic purposes by faculty
Just like the students, faculty rank websites 1st.
Unlike students, faculty rank e-journals 2nd instead of 7th.
And unlike students, faculty rank e-books 6th instead of 2nd.
Again keep in mind that only students who use e-books (51%) and continued in the survey are being compared to all faculty in their survey

12. Electronic vs. print resource preference by students
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

13. Electronic vs. print resource preference by faculty
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

14. Electronic vs. print resource preference
83% of students who said they used e-books find it preferable to use an e-book over a print version
Sometimes (32%)
Often or very often (51%).
82% of faculty find electronic resources preferable to print
Equally useful (32%)
Preferable (50%)

15. Advantages of e-books - faculty
What do faculty say are the advantages of electronic resources for their research or instruction?
More accessible
Anytime, anywhere
Multi-user access
More usable
Easy to search and access
Easy to share
Ability to manipulate, use in Blackboard or other CMS
Ability to highlight, annotate, bookmark, etc.
Easy to print/download
Easy to save and archive
Less expensive
Saves shelf space
Cost-effective
Good for environment
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

16. Advantages of e-books - students
What are the top statements students indicate as true for e-books?
Environmentally friendly
Anytime, anywhere access
Easy to search and find info
Easy to share
Easy to store
Good for quick reference
Easy to browse
Easy to use multiple documents at once
Easy to organize
Information is current
Easy to print or photocopy
Easy to cite
Easy to use
Clear graphics and images
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

17. Features of e-books
Which e-book features do students rate as “very important”?
Searching: 87%
Anytime access: 86%
Off-campus access: 82%
Multi-user access: 81%
Downloading to laptop: 80%
Copying and pasting: 75%
Printing: 75%
Zoom and scale: 65%
Highlighting: 62%
Automatic citations: 56%
Ability to text: 55%
Book reviews: 45%
Multimedia: 44%
Ability to share notes: 44%
Downloading to hand held device: 42%
Collaborative tools: 40%
Personal bookshelves: 38%
Shared bookshelves: 30%
Students selected “very important,” “somewhat important,” or “not important” for each item.
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

18. Perceived advantages of e-books
When asked about the advantages of e-books, both students and faculty indicated that e-books were
More accessible,
Easier to search
Easier to use online
When asked about the advantages of print books, faculty indicated that they were
Easier to read
Easier to find
More portable

19. Purchase drivers
© SkillSoft Corporation 2003

20. Purchase drivers for librarians
The 4 top factors are interrelated
Optimizing access
Price
Access model
Curriculum dictates
Subject
Currency

21. Next Survey Should there be another survey? Who should we survey?
We have done
Librarians
Faculty
Students
We have not done publishers
What do we want to know?