E‐book utilization among mathematics students of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

Purpose: The purpose of this preliminary study is to identify the e‐book utilization habit of postgraduate and undergraduate students from the Mathematics Department of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and to determine the reasons why students are feeling comfortable or uncomfortable with the e‐book services offered by the library and the role the librarians can play in solving the identified obstacles. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach which employs a face‐to‐face interview session was used to collect information on e‐book utilization habit and to capture perception of the e‐book services offered by UPM library. Findings: This research found that most of the participants use one common e‐book reading habit. Factors such as easy access reduce physical visits to the library and user‐friendly features offer a comfortable platform for the participant to use the mathematics e‐books. However, unreliable service, eye fatigue, lack of manipulability of online features and flaws in the physical design and insufficient e‐book collection cause the participants to feel uncomfortable with the service. Moreover, the role of librarians, publishers and interface designers is perceived to be an important remedy for all the inconvenience incurred. Research limitations/implications: Only 70 participants participated in this preliminary study. Furthermore, e‐books from a single publisher (SIAM) were used to collect data from the participants. Hence, the size of the population surveyed and usage of a single mathematics e‐book publisher placed certain limitations on the level of detail in which the data collected could be analysed and summarised. Practical implications: The study is important in terms of obtaining a better understanding of e‐book reading habits among mathematics students and the factors that cause them to feel comfortable and frustrated with the e‐book service offered by the library. Originality/value: This is believed to be the first published study of mathematics students' reading habits and their perception using e‐book in UPM

Using Choice to Measure the Availability and Use of E-Books

As e-books have come to hold a major impact on library collection building activities, the influence of reviews of titles and the on-going conversion of titles to a digital format have significant potential impacts for libraries. Reviewing tools such as Choice and the lag-time between publication notice of the print edition of a work and its corresponding e-version asks the questions, “How many of the print titles that are reviewed in Choice have a corresponding e-version ready for purchase?” and “How used are those e-versions in comparison with print?

Understanding the Use of Mobile E-Books among Mathematics Postgraduates

Objectives: The main objective of this study is to understand the factors that encourage the use of mobile ebooks among mathematics postgraduate students. Method: This study employed a qualitative case study approach. Eight mathematics postgraduate students from the algebra research group participated in the study. Data were collected via interview and analyzed by using constant comparative analysis. Results: Utilitarian, cognitive, affective, social norm, and content qualities were the main factors influencing the use of mobile ebooks among the participants. Conclusions: Mobile ebooks are easy to use and provide a meaningful platform to find information. In addition, the mobile ebook provides instant access to new information with a single finger click, thus enabling students to extract the needed information and make constructive comparisons on the subject matter. Theory and/or Practice Implications: Results expand understanding of the factors that motivate the use of mobile ebooks for learning activities among mathematics postgraduate students. In addition, the study also provides support for institutions planning to incorporate mobile ebooks as an important reference material for postgraduate learning and research activities

Survival of the Print Book! The Falsifiability Approach towards an Inductive Belief

Looks at the historical and philosophical roots of the reasoning and defines the induction as the most popular style of reasoning. Discusses the problem of induction and its complexities through an example. Explains one of the solutions provided for the problem of induction; i.e. the falsifiability theory. Defines the falsifiability theory and concentrates on an ongoing argument among information professionals. Survival of the print book, as an inductive belief, is what this article tries to analyze and gauge. Through an all-inclusive literature review, viewpoints of the pros and cons of this inductive belief are discussed; and much number of evidences is provided for the death of the print book. Concludes that the survival of the print book belief is falsified and liberal information professionals should be trained to press e-book publishers to develop their products

Intention and adoption of mobile coupon among mobile phone users in Klang Valley

The arrival of mobile marketing communication has created a new method of sales promotion and advertising technique called mobile coupon. The main objective of this research is to examine the determinants of consumers’ intentions to subscribe mobile coupon and the consequence mobile coupon adoption by using Theory of Planned Behavior as the underpinning theory and perceived values, trust and perceived control are chosen as independent variables while consumer experience is selected as the moderator variable. The survey method is employed in the present study and sample consisted of 570 mobile coupon adopters between the ages of 15 - 49 years old located in Klang Valley. Data analysis involves descriptive analysis, factor analysis and multiple regression. Results indicated that 51.5 percent of consumers’ adoption to subscribe model coupon in contributed by the level of intention. It was also discovered that the level of consumers’ intention to subscribe mobile coupon service is at moderate level. Monetary factor has the highest influence on consumer intention to subscribe mobile coupon followed by emotional, convenient and trust factors. The result also indicated that consumer experience moderates the relationships between monetary and perceived control on consumers’ intention to subscribe mobile coupon. Finally, consumers’ intention to subscribe mobile coupon has significant effect on consumers’ adoption of mobile coupon. Based on the findings, implications to practice and academic research were offered. Limitations of the study and future research were all discusse

Educational use cases from a shared exploration of e-books and iPads

E-books and e-book readers are becoming increasingly widely available, particularly for the general reader, and there have been many studies on their adoption. However, less is known about their use for educational and academic purposes. We report here on work carried out on e-books and e-book applications using iPads by academic and teaching staff. After considering pedagogical issues and reporting survey results, we identify a spiral of six key use case areas for e-books. This spiral of use cases moves from basic e-book use, through situational reading, e-books and learning, using multiple learning resources, collaborative/group learning, to e-book production. We discuss each of these use case areas and provide guidelines that will be of interest to practitioners and researchers alike

The views, adoption and use of e-books by undergraduate students at the University of Namibia

The advancement of Information Communication and Technology, especially the vast development of the Internet, which makes information more widely available to more people, has brought changes to the publishing industry. This technological development includes the introduction of electronic information sources such as e-journals and e-books. The research aimed at investigating the adoption of views about and use of e-books at the University of Namibia. The research design was exploratory and the study adopted a mixed approach, in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Data collection was done through administering questionnaires, a focus group discussion and observation, combined with think-aloud methods. Both purposive sampling and random sampling techniques were used in selecting respondents. The results of this study reported a high awareness about e-books by students. The study also revealed frequent general use of e-books. The study further reported that respondents used both the non-library search engines and the library search tool as starting points to search for e-books, with the result that the use of the library provided e-books has not reached any significant level. The study also observed positive attitudes towards e-books by students, as they indicated a preference for e-books over printed books and reported using e-books mainly for course work and research purposes. In identifying factors that hinder the use of e-books, aspects such as slow Internet connections, lack of knowledge (including the awareness and skills required to utilise e-books), limited and/or lack of relevant e-books titles, preference for print, eye strain and difficulty reading on screen, as well as limited computers and lack of e-readers, were identified as major deterrents for the use of e-books. Additionally, the study found that the relative advantage, compatibility, trialability and observability have significant influence on the adoption of e-books.Information ScienceM. A.(Information Science

E-book adoption in academic and research libraries

Electronic books (e-books) have grown in importance in Academic and Research Libraries (ARLs). Some ARLs are now spending more on e-book acquisitions than hardcopy books. Whether this investment in e-book provision is justified by adoption outcomes is often the subject of simplistic, rather than rigorous research. This research has attempted to rigorously explore the phenomenon of e-book adoption in a case study ARL, namely, Edith Cowan University (ECU) Library. The study population consisted of ECU academics, students and non-academic staff. The research had three aims. First, by employing a theoretical framework based on technology adoption and information behaviour theory, the study sought explanations of adoption behaviours in the population. In a triangular research design, that included a survey, ECU users were invited to self-describe their own patterns of e-book behaviour. Survey data was used to determine if behaviour observed in transactions could be explained in terms of constructs derived from technology acceptance, information behaviour and other domain theories that seek to understand user interaction with information sources. Next, applying log analysis techniques to system-generated datasets of e-book usage, the researcher documented and analysed patterns of ECU e-book user behaviour in terms of the transaction record. Lastly, the study investigated whether transaction logs could be used with high reliability to profile users’ information behaviour providing the basis of a method for e-book individualisation. The study attempted to profile power users and to derive a predictive method for identifying them in log data. The study found many factors in technology acceptance theory that were significant in terms of adoption behaviour. E-book adoption in the case study ARL was found to be related to culture of use across the dimensions of habit/automaticity, preference for online resources and platforms, and information literacy. E-book collection sufficiency, purpose or task fit, convenience, functionality, and access/copy/print/download provisions were found to be significant in terms of performance expectancy. Dimensions of effort expectancy in finding/searching/reading e-books also significantly affected user behaviour. Other significant relations comprised perceived e-book hedonic attributes (pleasantness of experience, attractiveness of formats), familiarity (awareness, prior experience, differentiability), intimacy (personal likeness, emotional attachment, preferences), facilitating conditions (such as discovery, findability, connectivity/access, courseware embedded links), moderating factors (including respondent category, student programme, age, gender, and experience/years). These factors were found to be significant as sources of gratification and continuance intention. An original contribution to knowledge was also made by deriving a predictive equation for classifying users based on transaction log data. Further, the research developed a new model of higher level information behaviours displayed by sophisticated or so-called ‘power users,’ and generated a model of e-book information behaviour maturity that distinguishes nascent from mature behaviours. The model is grounded in self-reported information behaviour. As an expansive exploration of e-book usage patterns in a case study ARL using multiple methods, the work is also innovative both in terms of scope and as an exploration of e-book adoption in an Australian context. This research is significant in laying the foundations for machine-based user profiling and enhanced individualisation of e-books to make for more satisfying user experience and acceptance of e-books