Preliminary Results: ebrary Surveys Suggest Students’ Research Needs Unmet

From an ebrary News Release:

ebrary today announced the initial results of its 2011 Global Student E-book Survey. A comparison of the new survey with the same survey conducted in 2008 implies that aggregators, publishers, and librarians need to better collaborate to address students’ information and research needs.
“The increasing popularity of consumer technologies such as social media, handheld devices, tablets, and e-readers is changing the information landscape and directly impacting students:  They expect to have the information they need available the second they need it, regardless of format,” said Carol Zsulya, Head, Collection Management; Business/Economics Librarian, Cleveland State University.  “The ebrary survey, which was originally developed by participating libraries including Cleveland State, suggests that we as providers and disseminators of authoritative information may not be meeting these expectations.”
Key findings of the survey of more than 6,500 students include the following:

• E-book usage and awareness have not increased significantly in 2011 over 2008

• Preference for printed books over electronic books has not changed: Both are still equally important

• The vast majority of students would choose electronic over print if it were available and if better tools along with fewer restrictions were offered

• There is a need for reliable social media tools geared toward research

Complete Results on Friday

Sayar and Zsulya will co-present the initial comparison of the 2011 vs. 2008 Global Student E-book Surveys along with Cleveland State University’s institution-specific results in 2011 at the Charleston Conference.  The “Lively Lunch” session will take place on Friday, November 4, from 12:30pm-2pm EDT at 39 Rue de Jean Restaurant, upstairs.  To RSVP for the session, please visit http://www.tfaforms.com/220426
A live webinar from the Charleston Conference will be available to anyone unable to attend the event and will begin at 12:45pm EDT. To sign up for the webinar, visit http://www.tfaforms.com/222269

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