I recently put together an annotated bibliography of six good sources of information on the academic use of e-books. This is a very interesting topic that will shape the future of education for years to come. The literature reviewed below provide a good sense of developments in this area.
Polanka, S. (Ed.). (2011). No shelf required: E-books in libraries. Chicago, IL: American
Library Association. Retrieved from ebrary.
Polanka (2011) assembles contributions from academic librarians, faculty, publishers and vendors in this collection that “offers readers an opportunity to explore the challenges that e-books bring to our libraries” (p. xii). The text looks at the past and future of e-books, from Project Guttenberg to Google Books and beyond. For example, Google Books’ partnerships with academia, beginning with agreements with institutions such as Cambridge University Press, Harvard and the University of Michigan, are examined in detail. A chapter on The Academic Library e-Book discusses the University of Texas at Austin’s early foray into the world of e-books, with a contract with NetLibrary in 1999, and its “highly experimental approach to collecting e-books” (p. 79). Another case study of interest examines Pennsylvania State University’s Sony E-Book Reader Project.
Polanka, S. (Ed.). (2012). No shelf required 2: Use and management of electronic books.
Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
With the rapid changes in the e-book market, Polanka (2012) again gathers a team of experts to provide multi-faceted perspectives on e-books, including a spotlight on university libraries on the leading-edge of the e-book revolution. These include the Stanford University Engineering Library, the University of Texas at San Antonio Applied Engineering and Technology Library, and the University of Texas at Austin Undergraduate Library. The Stanford case study, for example, showcases a new library that will eventually be dedicated exclusively to digital materials and that features a gadget bar where students can borrow e-readers. Another innovative project profiled is the iPad Loaner Program of the Oberlin College Library in Ohio.
Cassidy, E. D., Martinez, M., & Shen, L. (2012). Not in love, or not in the know? Graduate
student and faculty use (and non-use) of e-books. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(6), 326-332. doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.08.005
Cassidy, Martinez and Shen (2012) present findings from a study conducted at the San Houston State University on e-book usage by graduate students and faculty. The study revealed 38% of respondents had used the library’s e-books, split almost equally between graduate students and faculty. Among non-users, graduate students were much more open to trying e-books in future (68%) than faculty (47%). The study also found a statistically significant difference between the average age of those who used e-books (37 years) and those who did not (41 years). The researchers speculate that the low usage of e-books may be attributed to “a disconnection between library marketing and users,” (p. 331), but clearly, features like the print book’s tangibility and the fact that it promotes “active reading techniques such as annotation and highlighting” (p. 329) continue to make it an attractive choice for advanced university researchers.
Weisberg, M. (2011). Student attitudes and behaviors towards digital textbooks. Publishing
Research Quarterly, 27(2), 188-196. doi: 10.1007/s12109-011-9217-4
In his two-year, ongoing longitudinal study of students at the Suffolk University Sawyer Business School, Weisberg (2011) examines how access to, and use of, various popular e-devices to read electronic textbooks affects students’ attitudes, behaviors and learning. The study compared findings for students who used the electronic devices and those who used print textbooks. Preliminary results show “student attitudes and behaviors are becoming receptive to and accepting of using digital textbooks each year” (p. 188). Weisberg (2011) also found no significant difference in learning outcomes among students who used different e-devices and those who used paper textbooks. The study documents a significant shift in student perceptions and behaviors about electronic textbooks after a year’s participation in the study, from a general impression that e-textbooks are better suited for elementary education to an increased preference for electronic textbooks.
Staiger, J. (2012). How e-books are used. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 51(4), 355-365.
Retrieved from Teacher Reference Center Database.
Staiger (2012) presents a literature review of 24 studies conducted between 2006 and 2011 on e-book use in post-secondary institutions. In terms of awareness of e-books, he found wide gaps in the studies, from a low awareness of 31% in one U.K. university to a high of 75% at a Cincinnati college (p. 356). For usage, the review found an aggregate of roughly 50% of participants in the various studies believe they have used e-books. The largest area of consensus among the studies relates to how e-books are used. Based on the metadata, Staiger (2012) observes that when students consult e-books, they only “extract information for their scholarly use” (p. 357) and that “they do no immerse themselves in them for extended periods of time” (p. 357). He concludes that e-books may be engendering superficial scholarship by promoting “cursory and spotty practices” (p. 361), instead of thorough reading.
No Shelf Required. [Web log]. Retrieved from http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/about/
A good website for following developments in academic e-book publishing and adoption is No Shelf Required (http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/), a blog affiliated with the Wright State University Libraries. The site discusses “the issues, concepts, current and future practices of eBook publishing” (No Shelf Required, n.d.). Although aimed primarily at librarians and publishers, this online resource provides a wealth of information for scholars conducting research on e-book use in academia. The site includes sections on academic libraries, Google Books, surveys and statistics, university press, and articles of interest. Content on the site is moderated by Sue Polanka, head of reference and instruction at Wright State University Libraries.
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