Contradictions and Consensus: Clusters of Opinions on E-books

Q methodology was used to determine attitudes and opinions about e-books among a group of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates at Miami University of Ohio. Oral interviews formed the basis for a collection of opinion statements concerning e-books versus print. These statements were then ranked by a second group of research participants. Factor analysis of these rankings found four distinct factors that reveal clusters of opinions on e-books: Book Lovers, Technophiles, Pragmatists, and Printers. Two of the four factors take a more ideological approach in their understanding of e-books: Book Lovers have an emotional attachment to the printed book as an object, while Technophiles feel just as strongly about technology. In contrast, the other two factors are more utilitarian: Printers might find e-books more palatable if usability were improved, while Pragmatists are comfortable with both print and e-book formats

Contradictions and Consensus — Clusters of Opinions on E-books

Q methodology was used to determine attitudes and opinions about e-books among a group of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates at Miami University of Ohio. Oral interviews formed the basis for a collection of opinion statements concerning e-books versus print. These statements were then ranked by a second group of research participants. Factor analysis of these rankings found four distinct factors that reveal clusters of opinions on e-books: Book Lovers, Technophiles, Pragmatists, and Printers. Two of the four factors take a more ideological approach in their understanding of e-books: Book Lovers have an emotional attachment to the printed book as an object, while Technophiles feel just as strongly about technology. In contrast, the other two factors are more utilitarian: Printers might find e-books more palatable if usability were improved, while Pragmatists are comfortable with both print and e-book formats

The Value of Purchasing E-Books From a Large Publisher: A Usage-based Analysis of Oxford University Press E-Books

Presentation given at the Acquisitions Institute (Timberline) on May 20, 2012. Usage analysis of Oxford University Press e-books at Miami University Libraries

Teaching Students to Evaluate E-Reference Sources with Moodle Forums

This presentation will describe the use of online forums in Moodle, a course management system, to teach students to evaluate both print and electronic reference sources. For two semesters I have created an online forum called the Fishing Hole Scouting Report for an in-class exercise. Students are given 2-3 background questions and told to find the answers using both a library-approved reference source and Wikipedia. Students then evaluate the reference source for effectiveness and ease of use, compared to Wikipedia, and post their comments in the forum to share with the class. I will highlight the educational benefits of using Moodle forums for this purpose and discuss best practices for selecting the most effective sources and questions

Keep the Change: Clusters of Faculty Opinion on Open Access

The authors discovered faculty opinions about open access by employing Q methodology, a research method combining qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze subjects' attitudes about a given topic. Q methodology, using three main steps, identifies and isolates opinion types. The first step is the collection of subjective statements, largely from qualitative interviews. The next step, called the Q-sort, involves subjects sorting these statements along a continuum. Finally, Q-sort results are analyzed using a statistical technique called factor analysis. Using specialized software, factor analysis generates clusters of opinions. In this Q study, factor analysis revealed three distinct factors that outlined clusters of faculty opinions about open access. The authors described these factors as “Evangelists,” “Pragmatists,” and “Traditionalists.” Each of these factors represents a group of faculty on Miami University’s Oxford campus who hold specific attitudes and opinions regarding open access. Implications for future library initiatives implementing open access programs, services, and policies are discussed, as are directions for additional research

How Do We Study Satisfaction With Academic E‐Book Collections?

Much of the existing literature on patron satisfaction with e‐books in academic settings does not differentiate between platforms, formats, and other conditions that drastically change the user’s ability to read, annotate, and use e‐book content. The Charlotte Initiative is a project funded by the Mellon Foundation to convene a working group that investigates principles for permanent acquisition of e‐books for academic libraries. As part of this project, a user experience research team has been created to review the existing literature on patron satisfaction with multiple aspects of e‐books. During summer 2015, this research team began a metastudy to determine areas of the user experience with e‐books in academic libraries that have been studied comprehensively and to identify areas that have not received formal evaluation. In this paper, we not only convey the results of our research team’s literature review but also provide criteria that librarians and institutions can use to guide assessments of user experience with e‐books in academic library settings

Perilaku Dan Preferensi Membaca Di Kalangan Mahasiswa Universitas Indonesia

Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk melihat perilaku membaca dan apa yang mendorong preferensi mahasiswa Di Universitas Indonesia. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kuantitatif dengan menggunakan metode penelitian survei secara online. Subjek penelitian merupakan 75 mahasiswa sarjana dari beberapa program studi di Universitas Indonesia, dengan menggunakan teknik accidental sampling. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini, Mahasiswa sarjana Universitas Indonesia melakukan kegiatan membacanya dengan membaca jenis bahan bacaan non-akademik, dan memilih membaca format digital terutama ketika membaca materi bacaan akademik.

Introduction to Academic E-Books

With so many advantages, it seems logical that librarians would be eager to switch from purchasing books in print to embrace the electronic format. However the transition to e-books in academic libraries has not been a smooth or quick one and the reasons are myriad and complicated. Aware that this is still a time of transition and that there are many issues surrounding the e-book, the editors set out to present the state of e-books in academic libraries today. They invited knowledgeable publishers and librarians to write about the current challenges, successes, and trends. In addition, there is a section that analyzes new data about user interaction with e-books and an essay written by a teaching faculty member who uses and encourages her student to use e-book

Seeing the Whole Elephant in the Room: A Holistic approach to ebooks

This presentation was offered as part of the CUNY Library Assessment Conference, Reinventing Libraries: Reinventing Assessment, held at the City University of New York in June 2014

How can we help? The contribution of university libraries to student retention

The article discusses the Australian government\u27s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program. The program aims to encourage greater participation of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds in higher education. The article identifies potential means by which a library may contribute to student retention and outlines one library\u27s approach to investigating its contribution.<br /