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This study attempts to investigate reading behavior in the digital environment by analyzing how people's reading behavior has changed over the past ten years.
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to investigate reading behavior in the digital environment by analyzing how people's reading behavior has changed over the past ten years.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey and analysis methods are employed.
Findings
With an increasing amount of time spent reading electronic documents, a screen‐based reading behavior is emerging. The screen‐based reading behavior is characterized by more time spent on browsing and scanning, keyword spotting, one‐time reading, non‐linear reading, and reading more selectively, while less time is spent on in‐depth reading, and concentrated reading. Decreasing sustained attention is also noted. Annotating and highlighting while reading is a common activity in the printed environment. However, this “traditional” pattern has not yet migrated to the digital environment when people read electronic documents.
Originality/value
Implications for the changes in reading behavior are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.
Details
Keywords
Ramesh Pandita and Shivendra Singh
The present study aims to assess the resource procurement preferences among the leading academic libraries of the institutes of higher learning across India. The study analyses…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to assess the resource procurement preferences among the leading academic libraries of the institutes of higher learning across India. The study analyses the amount and percentage of budget spent by the institutions under study during the period 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 on the procurement of print and electronic resources in their libraries. The study also discusses about concerns with regard to the subscription of e-resources and the reasons for weaning interest among the Indian academicians towards the print resources.
Design/methodology/approach
By and large, the scope of the study is limited to institutes of higher learning across India, but reflects a great deal of relevance to the global higher education practices. The study has been undertaken on the 20 leading institutes each from Universities, Institutes of Management and Institutes of Technology in India, based on the ranking list released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, on 4 April 2016.
Findings
The electronic documents are the dominant forms of present day library procurements in India, with the print struggling to retain its readership. The Institutes of Engineering and Technology and Management have almost similar procurement preferences, spending almost three-fourth of their library budgets on the procurement of e-documents. On average, the University libraries in India have spent 43.54 per cent of their budget on the procurement of print resources and 56.46 per cent of their budget on the procurement of electronic resources during the period of study. Similarly, on average, each Institute of Engineering and Technology has spent 24.04 per cent of their library budget on the procurement of print documents and 75.96 per cent towards the procurement of electronic resources, whereas 27.51 per cent of the library budget by the Institutes of Management in India is being spent on the procurement of print resources and 72.49 per cent towards the procurement of electronic resources.
Originality/value
The study is original and is first of its kind, undertaken on three different category of institutions, based on the national ranking of the country.
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Keywords
This study aims to examine the types of documents that humanities scholars use in their publications, how humanities scholars use electronic resources during their research, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the types of documents that humanities scholars use in their publications, how humanities scholars use electronic resources during their research, and their opinions are regarding their library’s acquisition policy for electronic and printed resources.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 13 university faculty members from the fields of Chinese literature, history and philosophy participated in this study. The documents cited in their publications were analyzed and in-depth interviews were conducted.
Findings
The results showed that books were the dominant document type cited by the participants. They frequently used electronic resources during the stages of idea generation; document search and collection; and interpretation and writing. If they used an ancient book in an electronic format, they cross-checked it with its printed version to verify the accuracy of the text. Although the participants anticipated that the university library would favour e-journals instead of printed journals, they expected the university library to continue purchasing printed books.
Originality/value
Many university libraries encounter difficulties in choosing between materials in electronic and printed formats, particularly in the humanities field. The study findings provide a clear understanding of how humanities scholars use electronic resources in the digital age.
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Keywords
The development of digital technology and digital resources have influenced one’s reading habits. This paper aimed to study undergraduate students' reading in digital sphere at…
Abstract
Purpose
The development of digital technology and digital resources have influenced one’s reading habits. This paper aimed to study undergraduate students' reading in digital sphere at universities in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
A focus group study with 31 undergraduate students of six groups at six public universities was conducted to get their perspectives on reading preference, strategies, effectiveness and psychological factors influencing reading ability.
Findings
The results confirmed that bachelor students' reading preference for document formats depended on their reading purposes. They used different reading strategies for digital and traditional reading, for instance, keyword searching, taking note, skimming, scanning, need-based reading, selective reading, comparison, evaluation and criticism. Students had faster reading speed for digital texts; however, they had better concentration and memorization in printed documents. When students have motivation, good attitudes and emotion, they could be motivated to read more.
Originality/value
These findings were useful in enhancing the understanding of digital reading competence and help stakeholders find out solutions to improve reading capacity of Vietnamese students in digital space.
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The purpose of this paper is to recommend a print distribution and web site disclosure strategy that is both cost effective and compliant with the SEC summary prospectus rule.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to recommend a print distribution and web site disclosure strategy that is both cost effective and compliant with the SEC summary prospectus rule.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explains the economics of offset printing versus digital printing on demand (POD) and printing prospectuses at the traditional printer's site versus creating print‐ready PDFs electronically and making them available to fund distributors so they can print and deliver “on demand” on site. It provides a checklist of web site disclosure requirements for a fund to be compliant with the summary prospectus rule.
Findings
The paper finds that, by establishing a rock‐solid web strategy, coupled with new thinking on their printed prospectuses, firms can comfortably maximize their savings and establish a rational framework for investor disclosure envisioned by the SEC.
Originality/value
The paper provides cost effective guidance for compliance with the SEC summary prospectus rule.
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Librarians and other professionals preparing complex documents benefit from sophisticated wordworking systems. A small handful of wordworking systems provide unusually flexible…
Abstract
Librarians and other professionals preparing complex documents benefit from sophisticated wordworking systems. A small handful of wordworking systems provide unusually flexible print formatting and text handling. The author considers two such programs, The FinalWord II and WordPerfect 4.1. The two programs achieve somewhat similar ends through distinctly different means. WordPerfect has a wider variety of unusual text‐manipulation capabilities, while The FinalWord offers more varied formatting capabilities and much greater user control. The two programs are compared with each other; and their editing functions are compared with PC‐Write. Time trials show some of the strengths and weaknesses of each editor.
This article explores the relationship between scholarly communication, an established research area receiving renewed interest, and digital libraries, a relatively new area of…
Abstract
This article explores the relationship between scholarly communication, an established research area receiving renewed interest, and digital libraries, a relatively new area of research. Scholarship is inherently a social process and it is embedded in a structure of relationships with other scholars, with scholarly societies, and with publishers and libraries. These stakeholders agree that the relationship has become unbalanced with the advent of electronic publishing, digital libraries, computer networks and associated changes in pricing, intellectual property policies and contracts, but they do not agree on solutions to redress the balance. Several problems worthy of research lie at the intersection of scholarly communication processes and digital libraries. These include the ability of digital libraries to support the cycle of information seeking, using and creating; the ‘social life’ of documents; and electronic publishing. Other interesting problems exist at the intersection of structures of scholarly communication and digital libraries. These include increased interdependency of scholarly documents, as links are embedded between documents, both within and between digital libraries; the indefinite preservation of digital documents; business models for electronic publishing and digital libraries; and conflicts between the physical and virtual aspects of libraries.
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The ELINOR electronic library system is a well integrated, fully functioning system implemented at De Montfort University in 1993. The system currently contains the full contents…
Abstract
The ELINOR electronic library system is a well integrated, fully functioning system implemented at De Montfort University in 1993. The system currently contains the full contents of some 35 000‐page course materials assisting the teaching and learning of one undergraduate course. The core software for the system is PixTex/EFS, a free text retrieval system with well integrated imaging functions. A usage statistics collection and management subsystem and a printing control subsystem were developed in‐house later for copyright management and other management purposes. This paper presents the various aspects of the ELINOR electronic library system including its database, browsing, searching, printing, document capturing, managing, architecture, the user aspect, and the pros and cons of the system.
The purpose of this study is to provide a discussion on how to apply Genette's concept of the paratext to analyze digital documents. The article argues that the concept, despite…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a discussion on how to apply Genette's concept of the paratext to analyze digital documents. The article argues that the concept, despite its shortcomings, is useful because it gives us the terminology to analyze elements often ignored and overlooked.
Design/methodology/approach
By taking Gérard Genette's concept of the paratext as point of departure, the paper focuses on three controversial issues in the scholarly work about paratext and digital documents: the division of paratext into peritext and epitext, the explosive growth of paratext and the question of authorization of text and paratext.
Findings
Questions related to the spatial division of the paratext into peritext and epitext, the difficulty of where to draw the line between text and paratext and the question of authorization are not new for digital documents but did already occur in the analog world. Even if many decisions like what to include and what to exclude in an analysis are left to the researcher, this does not mean that Genette's concept is unsuitable for digital documents. On the contrary, the concept gives us the terminology to analyze elements of often ignored and overlooked, also for digital documents.
Research limitations/implications
As a scholar in the humanities the author can only relate to and therefore analyze what the author can experience and observe on screen level.
Originality/value
In providing a discussion of digital documents and some of the controversial issues discussed by other researchers, this article shows the relevance of Genette's concept, also for our work with digital documents.
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Keywords
S. Michael Malinconico and Jane C. Warth
Librarians are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire and to make available to their users the full range of information in print form that they require. Electronic…
Abstract
Librarians are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire and to make available to their users the full range of information in print form that they require. Electronic information products and services are appearing at a rapidly increasing rate. Users find them attractive and, when available, use them more heavily than print sources. Consequently, librarians in response to the demands of users, and overwhelmed by the problems posed by print publications, are attempting to make electronic sources available. This paper describes the nature of the problems posed by print publications and trends involving the use of electronic documents in libraries. It discusses the progress made toward introducing electronic documents as alternatives, and complements, to print collections. It also describes a study that the IFLA Information Technology Section is undertaking to assess how rapidly libraries are adopting alternatives to locally held, print sources.