Are Students Keeping Up with the E-book Evolution? Are E-books Keeping Up with Students’ Evolving Needs?: Distance Students and E-book Usage, A Survey

Abstract

Electronic books are evolving at a dizzying pace, challenging academic librarians to keep patrons informed about the growing number of features of these resources and their various and varied limitations. It sometimes seems as if students are pleasantly surprised by the ease with which electronic books are accessible as often as they are frustrated by e-book features that do not satisfy their needs. Librarians receive such feedback readily from local students; distance students’ perspectives are more difficult to keep track of. Pepperdine University Librarians surveyed graduate distance students about their experiences and preferences regarding electronic books. Findings reflect prior studies’ data in terms of desired features, despite the fact that such features actually are available to a great extent. Surprisingly, participants ranked book topic areas and usage preferences identically for both electronic and print books. Answers to the questions posed in the article title are mixed: yes and no.