Preprint: Factors Influencing the Usage of an Electronic Book Collection: Size of the E-book Collection, Student Population, and Faculty Population

Title: Factors Influencing the Usage of an Electronic Book Collection: Size of the E-book Collection, Student Population, and Faculty Population (33 pages; PDF)
Author/Affiliation: Alain R. Lamothe
E-Resource Librarian
J.N. Desmarais Library Laurentian University Sudbury, ON
Source: College and Research Libraries
Accepted For Publication: November 9, 2011
Scheduled for Publication: November 2012
From the Abstract:

This paper presents the results of a quantitative and systematic investigation exploring online e-book usage at the J.N. Desmarais Library of Laurentian University, over a 9- year period. The size of an e-book collection was determined to show evidence of an extremely strong relationship with the level of usage e-books experienced. Of all factors examined during the course of this study, it was the size of the collection that exhibited the strongest association to usage levels and would suggest just how important the size and content of a collection can be to patron acceptance and utilization. Of all student academic levels, doctoral students exhibited the strongest relationship with e-book usage while undergraduate students showed signs of the weakest. Faculty demonstrated the overall weakest relationship with e-book usage.

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Note: This versions of the preprint does not contain tables or figures. The bibliography contains 66 entries.

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Journal Articles, Libraries, Publishing