Document Type
Article
Version Deposited
Accepted for publication (PostPrint)
Publication Date
6-17-2024
Publication Title
Digital Library Perspectives
DOI
10.1108/DLP-03-2024-0036
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the level of graduate students’ awareness and usage of e-books purchased by the authors’ university library since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors created a Qualtrics survey with 13 questions that was sent to the university’s graduate student email list. The survey was sent in the fall of 2023 and was open for one month. The list had 3,318 subscribers; 113 complete responses were received, for a response rate of 3.4%.
Findings
The results found that doctoral students (80%) are more aware than master’s students (64%) of e-book availability through the library, and usage rates are higher for doctoral students (78%) compared to master’s students (52%). In addition, the frequency of e-book usage since COVID-19 has changed, with more than half of respondents using e-books more often. The majority of respondents who use e-books do so because they are required as a textbook. While international students use their laptop or smartphone for reading e-books, domestic students prefer laptops. Student comments at the end of the survey revealed ways for libraries to help improve e-book awareness.
Research limitations/implications
The authors’ goal to have a response rate of 5%–10% was not achieved; the authors therefore did not use any statistics to measure the significance of the results. The survey did not ask whether students started their degree programs prior to 2020, but their start year could have influenced responses.
Originality/value
The present study looks at the current level of usage and awareness of specific populations (graduate students, online students and international students) regarding e-books. This study focuses on student perspectives regarding what devices they use to access e-books and how their usage differs across academic disciplines.
Recommended Citation
Brush, D.A. and Kipnis, D.G. (2024), "Graduate students’ e-book awareness and usage at a public research university in the USA", Digital Library Perspectives, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-03-2024-0036
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
