EbookTrends

CaseStudies,SurveysandInterviews JenniferThiele

WhyStudyEbooks?
Severalstudieshavebeendonetotellushowpeople arefindingphysicalbooksintheirlibrary,butnot muchhasbeendonetofindhowpeoplearefinding andusingtheireBooks.

Whatistheresearchtellingussofar? (PEW2012)
58%ofalllibrarycardholderssaytheydonotknowiftheirlibrary providesebooklending. 55%ofallthosewhosaythelibraryisveryimportant tothem statetheydonotknowiftheirlibrarylendsebooks. 53%ofalltabletcomputerownersstatetheydonotknowiftheir librarylendsebooks. 48%ofallownersofebookreadingdevicessaytheydonot knowiftheirlibrarylendsebooks. 47%ofallthosewhoreadanebookwithinthepastyearsaythey donotknowiftheirlibrarylendsebooks.

PEW,cont.
56%ofebookborrowersfromlibrariessaythattheyhadtriedto borrowaparticularbookandfoundthatthelibrarydidnotcarry it. 52%ofebookborrowerssaythattheydiscoveredtherewasa waitinglisttoborrowthebook 46%ofthosewhodonotcurrentlyborrowebooksfromlibraries saytheywouldbevery orsomewhat likelytoborrowane readingdevicethatcameloadedwithabook. 32%ofthosewhodonotcurrentlyborrowebookssaytheywould bevery orsomewhat likelytotakealibraryclassonhowto downloadebooks. 32%ofthosewhodonotcurrentlyborrowebookssaytheywould bevery orsomewhat likelytotakeacourseatalibraryin howtouseanereaderortablet.

PEW,cont.
Themostavidlibraryusersreporttheyaregoingto librarybrancheslessandusingthelibrarywebsite moreforbookandaudiodownloads. 55%oftheebookreaderswhoalsohadlibrarycards saidtheypreferredtobuytheirebooksand36%said theypreferredtoborrowthem

Whatdoesthismean?
Usershavealimitedawarenessofwhatthelibrary offers UsersareinterestedinpreloadedeReaders UsersarefindingbarrierstoborrowingeBooks throughthelibrary Usersaredeterredbylongwaitinglists Rightnow,peoplearepreferringtopurchasetheir booksvs.usethelibrary

WPLCStudy(Moyer,Thiele, Kapusniak)
69participants StephensonPLMarinette,WI&Shawano City/CountyPLShawano,WI DelafieldPLDelafield,WI&PaulineHaassPL Sussex,WI MilwaukeePLBranchlibraries:Atkinson,BayView, Tippecanoe&Zablocki Milwaukee,WI.

SurveyParticipants

EreadingDevices

BrowsingHabits

Kindleereader mostpopularamongparticipants PEWstudy Kindleereadersownedbymorethan 60%ofthepopulation Ourstudyfound37%ofpeopleusedtheKindle,26% Nookand25%otherreadersinthestateofWisconsin

Howarewesearching?

Most popular avenue was through the WPLC Several used another path from their library system. Libraries need to understand the habits of users to aid in connecting the users to digital content

HowarepeoplegettingtheireBooks fromthelibrary?

FactorsinfluencingeBookacquisition

majoritychosefamilyandfriend

recommendations pastreadauthor browsingformaterialsonline.

EbookDownloadingWPLCstudy

Only38%downloadedebooksfromthelibrary Mostpeopleonlydownloaded12ebooksamonth. ThisisconsistentwiththePEW2012ebookstudy libraryisnotthefirstchoiceofaccessingebooks Easeofuseofthesystem,availabilityofdifferent formatsormaterials,andthelackofmarketingofthe ebookcollectioncouldbefactors Arewemissingfeaturestobeanextgeneration,user friendlycatalog?

Ebookusearoundtheworld
InareaslikeEstoniaandFinland,eBooksinlibraries areintheirinfancy Especiallychallengingisdevotingbudgetmoneyto thiscollection Sharedsystemsarerare,sohowdoyoubuildyour collection?

EbookUseAcrosstheLifespan
Verysmallcasestudywithinterviews ApersonallookateBookusetocomplementlarger localandnationalstatistics

FirstTwoParticipants
CollegeAgedStudentsparticipantsindissertation Bothsentsurveysandfollowupfacetoface interviewstookplace BothhadfamiliaritywitheBooksandeReaders ModeratetoHeavyreaders.Kindleusers Preferenceforthewrittenbookduetosensory tactile(feelof)andsmellofthebook Notmanyhavepreferenceforaudiobooks

Ebookusersintheir50sand60s
Twoindividualsweresentsurveysandmetwiththe researcherforafollowupinterview BothindividualsownedeBookreadersoneowned theKindleandtheother,theNookColor Bothpeoplehadreadebooksandwerefamiliarwith ebookuse Bothindividualsenjoyedthereadersfortheir convenienceandportability

Participant#1:TheKindleUser
Thisparticipantisaheavyreader,reading approximately2hoursadayonaverage. Thisparticipantshowedastrongpreferencefor eBooksoverwrittenbooks,especiallynowthatheis retired Someofthemostutilizedfeaturesincluded newspapersandmagazines,booksfromhislocal library,andhavingthebookreadoutloudviathe applicationontheKindle/audiblebooksonline, althoughhewasnttypicallyanaudiobookuser FreeKindlebookswereappreciatedbythisuser

Participant#1:Othertechnologies
ThisparticipantalsoownsanIPADandasmartphone Somepreferredfeaturesincludenewscollecting applicationssuchasFlipboardwhichincludesnews, blogs,andothersourcesinamagazineformat Theparticipantmentionedinterestincustomizable readingsources ParticipantusedtheoptionofpostingonFacebook andTwitter Portabilitywasappreciated,especiallywhentraveling orreadingatthegym.Smartphoneswereoftenused inthismanner.

Participant#1:LibraryIssues
Thisparticipantmentionedusinghislocallibraryfor checkingoutKindleBooks Astheindividualhadrelocatedfromonestatetothe other,heremarkedthatthetwolibrarysystemshad verydifferenteBookselections Henotedthatcheckoutperiodswerelongerinthe statehewintered inandtheselectionwasbetter thanhishomestateconsortiasholdings HeremarkedthathelikedAmazonsoptionto purchasethebookaftercheckoutperiodexpired,as hesometimeswouldwanttosavehighlightedtext thatwouldnormallybelost

Participant#1:Disadvantagesofthe Kindle
HenotedthathewishedhisKindlehadboth3Gand Wireless,asitwasdependentonaWireless connectionforseveralfunctions. HealsostatedthattheKindlescreenswerenotgreat, andhadlimitedcapabilityforpicturesand illustrations.

Participant#2:NookColorUser
Thisparticipantstatedshereadbetween46hours perweek,includingnewspapers,withapproximately 13hoursamonthlisteningtoaudiobooks. Shestatedherformatpreferencedependedon circumstance,withcleaningandtravelperiods dominatedbyaudiobookutilization,whilereading printbooksweretypicallydoneathome. Thisparticipantwasamemberinseveralbookclubs andliteracyorganizations

Participant#2:ProsandConsofthe NookColor
Theparticipantenjoyedthefeatureofbeingableto haveherpagekeptbookmarkedwhenthedevicewas turnedoff. Shenotedthatthebatterylifewasminimalwhichcan beproblematicwhiletraveling. Onedifficultywasalsotheinabilitytosharethe materialswithfriendsandbookclubmembers.

Participant#2:Thoughtson Audiobooks
Thisreaderlovedaudiobooksbecausetheshefeltthe readerputthecharacterintothestory,makingthe mentalpictureeasierthantheactualreading.The mentalimageseemedtolastlong,andwasbetterfor multitasking. Herfavoritemodeoflisteningwascassettetape whenavailable.

Participant#2:LibraryUse
Shestatedthatshehadnotyetcheckedoutlibrary materialsforherNook SheexpressedinterestineBookclassesbylibrary stafforoneononeeBooktutoring TwoofherchildrenwereusingNookdevices,and theyhadalsoexpressedinterestinparticipating.

Conclusions

BothindividualsinterviewedenjoyedtheeReadersfor theirportabilityandconvenience Bothindividualsweremoderatetoheavyreaderswith interestinlibraryeBookcheckout BothusersenjoyedsomeofthefeaturesthattheeBook readershadsuchashighlightingandKindlevoice. Readingmodepreferencesoftenweretaskdependent examplesbeingreadingonSmartPhonesatthegymor listeningtoaudiowhilecleaning

Conclusions
Individualsintheir50sand60sareusingeBooksand eReaders Theseindividualsaremakinguseofnotonlythe readersthemselvesbutthefeaturesaswell TheindividualsinthisstudyreallylikedtheireReaders andwereenthusiasticofwhatthefuturewillholdfor themastechnologyprogresses. AreourseniorpopulationsutilizingeBooksmoreor differentlythanouryoungerones?

Morequestionsthananswers
Moreresearchneedstobedonetoseehowpeople areusingsystemsandwhatworkswellforeBook users LargercasestudiesnotjustinWisconsin,butinother statescanprovidefeedbackthatcanbeutilized Weneedtolookatouruserstoseewhattheir preferencesareandhowdifferentgenerationsare usingthesetools

Questions?
JenniferThiele 7157327572
jthiele@mail.nfls.lib.wi.us