Janice Adlington (speaker), Wade Wyckoff (speaker)

1. Not so fast! Researcher
Preferences for Print or E-books
Janice Adlington
Collections and Information Resources Librarian
Wade Wyckoff
Associate University Librarian, Collections

2. McMaster University

3. McMaster University Library

4. Monograph collections:
Mixed Strategies
Title by title firm ordering (print and e)
No major print approval plans (1 small
plan for Business)
 PDA/DDA
 E-book front list purchases:
Springer, Oxford UPSO, Harvard, IEEEWiley - often consortial
 E-book subscriptions: ACLS Humanities ebooks, CogNet, Knovel – but no large
aggregator



5. From the Users View
E-books found through the catalogue
(VUFind)
 “5-minute e-books”


Over 25 platforms
◦ Varied interfaces, DRM conditions

E-books @ Scholars Portal (local hosting)

6. By the Numbers
# of E-books # of Platforms
Science - Engineering
46,865
10
Soc Sci - Humanities
52,842
11
Multi-disciplinary
12,378
4
EBL PDA records
44,000
TOTAL
156,085
25

7. Policies


No intentional duplication of print and eNo ILL for print if e-book owned (with
very few exceptions)

8. Impetus for the Survey
Anecdotal evidence that users don’t want ebooks
 Faculty pushback on a specific e-book package

 Ask them directly
Goals
 Obtain structured input
 Develop more nuanced collecting strategies
 Better support those most likely to engage deeply
with texts

9. Survey Instrument
SurveyMonkey – “5 minute survey”
7 questions – NONE mandatory
 2 demographic
 2 general preference
 2 usage
 1 collection-oriented
Plus an open-ended comment box
4 opportunities to add comments

10. Results: Response rate
Respondents
Response
Sent to rate (%)
Undergrad
476
5290
9
Graduate
374
2659
14
Faculty
235
717
33
8666
13
Did not answer
Total
26
1111

11. Q3: In general, my preferred
format for books is…
300
E-books
250
Print
200
150
100
50
0
Faculty
Doctoral
Masters
Undergrads

12. Q3: Faculty preference by
discipline
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Faculty n=221
E-books
Print

13. Q3: Graduate preference by
discipline
Graduate Students n=358
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
E-books
Print

14. Q3: Undergraduate preference by
discipline
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
4th and 5th year Undergrads n=439
E-books
Print

15. From Science Faculty
“Print books provide a richer learning
experience”
 “I really dislike e-books. It is not possible
to pick up 10 books on a subject and skim
through them to see if they are relevant or
not.”
 “it's hard to "put your finger" in one page
to refer back to when reading a later one.”
 “The key issue for me is the ability to own
annotated copies of the book sections
relevant to me.”


16. Q4: I use e-books from the
McMaster Libraries’ collection
250
200
150
First Choice
Convenient
100
Only option
Never
50
0
Faculty
Graduate
Undergrad

17. Q5: When I read e-books, I prefer
to...
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Read online
Read on my phone
Download to
laptop/desktop
Download to a
tablet
Download to an e- Print the sections I
book reader
need
Not applicable

18. Q5: When I read e-books, I prefer
to...
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Read on my phone
Download to
laptop/desktop
Download to a tablet
Download to an e-book
reader
Print the sections I need

19. Q5: When I read e-books, I prefer
to...

My computer is the only device that I own that allows me to read e-books; it is
not particularly convenient (slow loading time for each page, difficulty flipping
back and forth in the book). I print chapters only when I know that I will need to
use them on a regular basis. When possible, I convert chapters to pdf formats
(easier to handle and take notes on).” – Doctoral student, Social Sciences

“If I have to consult a few pages from a book I have already read, I will read
them online on my computer. However, if I have to actually read the whole book
I will get a paper copy, either from Mills or from another library if need be.” –
Doctoral student, Humanities

“I don't prefer to read them electronically at all.” – Master’s
student, Engineering

“I try to buy the books to avoid using the library's e-books.” – Professor, Science

20. Q6: I use e-books & print books
differently
400
350
300
Yes
250
No
200
150
100
50
0
Faculty
Graduate
Undergraduate

21. Q6: I use e-books & print books
differently
200
180
160
140
120
Yes
100
No
80
Not applicable
60
40
20
0
Business
Health Sciences
Science
Engineering
Social Sciences
Humanities

22. Q6: I use e-books & print books
differently

“I read e-books less intently and don't absorb enough
information from them.” – Assistant Professor, Humanities

“I don't find it as easy to flip around *an e-book] and look at
different pages or sections. It's not as easy to quickly double
check on something and then I end up forgetting about
it, unless I write a reminder.” – Doctoral student, Humanities

“I 'mine' electronic texts, but read print books. I like both, but
for different purposes.” – Assistant Professor, Social Sciences

“I read books. I skim ebooks.” – Associate Professor, Engineering

“Ebooks are great for searching through, but print books are
much easier to browse.” – Doctoral student, Science

23. Q7: Comprehensive or Selective?
250
200
150
Comprehensive
Selective
100
50
0
Business
Health
Sciences
Science
Engineering Social Sciences
Humanities

24. Why we like e-books
Anytime anywhere access
Save library shelf space
PDA provides a large content pool
Packages offer a lot of content, often at
favorable prices
 Have focused heavily on content





25. Implications – Purchase Model
Problematic
 Big deals = big dollars
 Publisher packages: exclusions, ever
expanding content
 Subscription-based models: ongoing vs.
1x funds
 PDA from each publisher’s platform
 USABILITY: Restrictive DRM, user limits
on front list titles, no page images

26. Implications – Purchase Model
Favourable
 STM content
 Package discounts, clear title lists
 No premium for individual e-book purchases
 Provide data to book vendors (YBP, Coutts)
 Aggregated PDA –management efficiencies
 Local load rights - consistent interface
 USABILITY: Liberal or no DRM
 Format options: ePub and pdf

27. Implications – Moving Forward






In the near term, continue print for humanities traditional scholarly academic monograph
Prioritize liberal DRM (e.g. Harvard e-books)
Rethink ILL policies
Rethink acq policies: will we buy print where we have
only an unowned DDA version? An owned e-book?
Legacy print collection management: some degree of
caution still warranted in weeding print based on ebook availability
Repeat survey (with some changes from what we’ve
learned) to track changes over time

28. Questions?
How are these issues
playing out at your libraries?