New Preprint: “A Two-Step Model for Assessing Relative Interest in E-books Compared to Print”

The following approved for publication preprint was recently made available on the College & Research Libraries website and is schedule for publication date in the January 2016 issue of the journal.

Full Title

A Two-Step Model for Assessing Relative Interest in E-books Compared to Print
Authors
Steven A. Knowlton
University of Memphis

Source

College & Research Libraries
Anticipated Publication Date: January 2016
Accepted for Publication: March 2015

Abstract

Librarians often wish to know whether readers in a particular discipline favor e-books or print books. Because print circulation and e-book usage statistics are not directly comparable, it can be hard to determine the relative interest of readers in the two types of books.
This study demonstrates a two-step method by which librarians can assess the appeal of books in various formats. First, a nominal assessment of use or non-use is performed; this eliminates the difficulty of comparing print circulation to e-book usage statistics. Then, the comparison of actual use to Percentage of Expected Use (PEU) is made. By examining the distance between PEU of e-books to PEU of print books in a discipline, librarians can determine whether patrons have a strong preference for one format over another.

Direct to Full Text (30 pages; PDF)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Libraries, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries, Reports