2016 ALA Annual Conference Chan Li, California Digital Library UCSC FOCUS GROUPS STUDY ON ACADEMIC USER BEHAVIORS AROUND PRINT AND EBOOKS 2016 ALA Annual Conference Chan Li, California Digital Library

participants & book use in general

UCSC FOCUS GROUPS PARTICIPANTS

FREQUENT, INTENSIVE & REPETITIVE BOOK USE

Book Access

LIBRARY IS THE PRIMARY BOOK ACCESS POINT FOR BOTH FORMATS Q: For your last scholarly book use, where did you get the book of your chosen format? Print book eBook

Format selection and why

FORMAT SELECTION & PREFERENCE

REPETITIVE USE FORMAT SELECTION

Q: WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR FOMAT CHOICE? “I think that the way we engage with print media is different than the way we engage with things like a screen.” Physicality in reading Comprehension Comfort Accessibility & usability Devices Bias

PHYSICALITY IN READING Navigating textual landscape in print creates A SENSE OF SPACE and mental representation of the text “I know what 15 miles feels like, based in part – where I am in Golden Gate Park when I run 15 miles and how it feels on my body. But when I run on treadmill, I don’t have an affective imprinting about what any amount of time or space feels like, because it is uniform… And I am not learning as much.”

ANNOTATION Annotation is an important part of reading process. “It is important to me that my future readings are guided by the things that I marked up.” PHYSICALLY ANNOTATING books helps people to better comprehend information. “I like to be able to underline and dog-ear. I am very physical about my memory with things.” Some eReaders are capable to allow users physically annotating the text. “I used this really great PDF platform for the Android tablet, where you can actually draw on it, just as if it is a piece of paper. I could underline and write things by hand on the tablet and save it. That was very important to me, that I could actually use it like a physical book.”

READING IS A RECUSIVE PROCESS Reading is not a linear, but a RECURSIVE PROCESS. It requires reading back and forth and comparing content between pages and books, which is often inhibited by reading a single virtual page on the screen. “I can have two to three books open on my desk at the same time and be picking out pieces comparatively through them.”

Q: WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR FOMAT CHOICE? “I think that the way we engage with print media is different than the way we engage with things like a screen.” Physicality in reading Comprehension Comfort Accessibility &usability Devices Bias

DOES READING ON SCREENS INHIBIT COMPRHENSION? Participants reported that they tend to read faster, get distracted, have short attention span and comprehend less in eBooks than print books. “Not able to absorb the content” “Repeating lines” “Not able to learn that way.” “As soon as something gets above 60 pages, I am lost on it.” However, the most recent research suggest that reading can happen effectively in both print and electronic formats

Q: WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR FOMAT CHOICE?? “I think that the way we engage with print media is different than the way we engage with things like a screen.” Physicality in reading Comprehension Comfort Accessibility &Usability Devices Bias

PHYSICAL DISCOMFORT Physical discomfort from reading on the screen Eyesight Fatigue Back

Q: WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR FOMAT CHOICE? “I think that the way we engage with print media is different than the way we engage with things like a screen.” Physicality in reading Comprehension Comfort Accessibility & Usability Devices Bias

PRINT IS EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND CONVENIENT TO USE Benefits Limitations Good for a close and long reading Easily accessible Easy navigation Easy annotation Expensive if purchase Personal storage space limitation Environment Can’t take notes on library copy Short loan period /get recalled

EBOOK ACCESS RESTRICTIONS &USABILITY CHALLENGES Restrictions on number of pages that can be downloaded Limited number of simultaneous users Watermark Only accessible on campus Only available through Internet connection Slow downloading process Annotations on eBook platforms cannot be exported/preserved eBook content/format might be changed Navigation difficulties Poor layout that doesn’t show the context of the whole book Inconsistent features/apps among different eBook platforms Content not optimized for eReaders Content cannot be searched on eReaders Incorrect pagination on eReaders

WHAT EBOOK FEATURES ARE VALUED? “ I do use eBooks quite often. I just try not to read an entire book that way.” Search, copy and paste Portability Skim and scan Previews PDF format Text analysis Compatibility with eReaders Centrally stored annotations

WHAT WOULD MAKE EBOOKS MORE DESIRABLE Less access restrictions and improved usability, to make reading on the screen more SIMILAR to the experience of reading in print. The ease of actually reading a paper book so don’t get tired, and the portability, taking notes, annotating and storing on an eBook, combining those two things would be absolutely phenomenal.” The closer it is to have the functionality of a real book, where you can quickly with the flick of a hand,,, the closer to that experience in general, the more I like it.

Q: WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR FOMAT CHOICE? “I think that the way we engage with print media is different than the way we engage with things like a screen.” Physicality in reading Comprehension Comfort Accessibility &Usability Devices Bias

HOW DO PARTICIPANTS READ EBOOKS

EREADERS IMPROVE READING EXPERIENCES Physicality with better layout and navigation Better comprehension More comfortable Better annotation tools

Q: WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR FOMAT CHOICE? “I think that the way we engage with print media is different than the way we engage with things like a screen.” Physicality in reading Comprehension Comfort Accessibility &Usability Devices Bias

BIAS TOWARDS EBOOK Subconsciously, come people consider reading on the screen less conducive to learning than reading in print. “For some reason I also distrust the eBook version.” “Preference. I just prefer print”

Next steps & Implications

Repeat the study Provide better technologies (e.g. eReaders) and trainings to support and encourage students’ digital learning Conduct usability test and product evaluations on eBook platform Collect both formats for certain subjects, if possible