Relative Preferences for Paper and for Electronic Books: Implications for Reference Services, Library Instruction, and Collection Management

Abstract

While electronic books (e-books) can make intellectual content more accessible, librarians are faced with uncertainties about e-book acceptance and decreasing materials budgets. What are library user attitudes toward books accessible in print or in electronic form? How might library user attitudes inform the practices of reference, instruction, and collection management librarians? Librarians at a Midwestern public university sought guidance from its users by conducting a survey examining the relative preferences for books in paper and electronic formats. Characteristics of readers and their purposes for using books were explored, as were characteristics of the formats such as accessibility, portability, and convenience.