Scholarly e‐books: the views of 16,000 academics

Hamid R. Jamali (Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER) and Department of Educational Technology, Tarbiat Moallem University, Tehran, Iran)
David Nicholas (Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER) and School of Library, Archive and Information Studies (SLAIS), University College London, London, UK)
Ian Rowlands (Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER) and School of Library, Archive and Information Studies (SLAIS), University College London, London, UK)

Aslib Proceedings

ISSN: 0001-253X

Publication date: 16 January 2009

Abstract

Purpose

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This study, a part of JISC‐funded UK National E‐Books Observatory, aims to find out about the perspective of students and academics, the main e‐book users, on e‐books.

Design/methodology/approach

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The paper provides an analysis of two open‐ended questions about e‐books, contained in a UK national survey conducted between 18 January and 1 March 2008. The survey obtained a response from more than 20,000 academic staff and students; 16,000 free‐text responses were obtained to these two questions.

Findings

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The study discloses that convenience associated with online access along with searchability was the biggest advantage of e‐books. The study shows a potential market for e‐textbooks; however, e‐books have yet to become more student‐friendly by improving features such as printing and screenreading.

Originality/value

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This is the biggest survey of its kind ever conducted and it improves one's knowledge of what the academic community thinks of e‐books.

Keywords

Citation

Jamali, H., Nicholas, D. and Rowlands, I. (2009), "Scholarly e‐books: the views of 16,000 academics", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/00012530910932276

Download as .RIS

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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