1. 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

2. participants & book use in general

3. UCSC FOCUS GROUPS PARTICIPANTS

4. FREQUENT, INTENSIVE & REPETITIVE BOOK USE

5. Book Access

6. 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

7. Format selection and why

8. FORMAT SELECTION & PREFERENCE

9. REPETITIVE USE FORMAT SELECTION

10. 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

11. 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.”

12. 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.”

13. 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.”

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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.

23. 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

24. HOW DO PARTICIPANTS READ EBOOKS

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

26. 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

27. 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”

28. Next steps & Implications

29. 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