Contradictions and Consensus — Clusters of Opinions on E-books

Abstract

Q methodology was used to determine attitudes and opinions about ebooks among a group of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates at Miami University of Ohio. Oral interviews formed the basis for a collection of opinion statements concerning e-books versus print. These statements were then ranked by a second group of research participants. Factor analysis of these rankings found four distinct factors that reveal clusters of opinions on e-books: Book Lovers, Technophiles, Pragmatists, and Printers. Two of the four factors take a more ideological approach in their understanding of e-books: Book Lovers have an emotional attachment to the printed book as an object, while Technophiles feel just as strongly about technology. In contrast, the other two factors are more utilitarian: Printers might find e-books more palatable if usability were improved, while Pragmatists are comfortable with both print and e-book formats.cademic libraries of all types and sizes have increasingly adopted electronic books (ebooks). This shift in collection development has not been without controversy, however. Research shows that many library patrons resist e-books. The present study will examine user attitudes about e-books to better understand the source of this resistance. To accomplish this task, we employed Q methodology, a research technique that combines qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze subjects' attitudes about a given topic. Using this method, we isolated four distinct opinions about e-books: Book Lovers, Technophiles, Pragmatists, and Printers. We believe that a better understanding about library patrons' beliefs can inform decisions relating to e-books, which are becoming a major part of our collection. Additionally, the components of constituents' reluctance related to ebook usage can guide the transition to electronic texts; everything from types of texts most suited to e-books to selecting specific technologies and interfaces can be shaped by this additional knowledge. Library instruction and outreach related to this potentially large change in our colcrl-108rl

How E-books Are Used

“…3 Another team, Shrimplin et al, took a unique approach, classifying participants in their survey not by academic status or discipline, but by temperament as book lovers, technophiles, pragmatists, and printers. 4 Taken together, the growing corpus of studies provides a detailed picture of how the patrons of academic libraries employ ebooks in their study and research. The exposition that follows will describe this picture closely, referring along the way to particular studies in order to illustrate the points in question.…”

Factors Influencing the Usage of an Electronic Book Collection: Size of the E-book Collection, the Student Population, and the Faculty Population

“…Having the ability to search not only across the chapters of a particular e-book but also across an entire e-book collection has been demonstrated to be an asset to patrons. 33 A well-structured platform with easily identified search features would encourage patrons to return time and again for further investigation. 34 In fact, the searchability of e-books has been identified as being one of their most significant benefits, 35 especially if the option of searching by keyword or subject term was available.…”

Book Lovers, Technophiles, Pragmatists, and Printers: The Social and Demographic Structure of User Attitudes toward e-Books

“…9 To address these questions, the initial Q-methodology study results were used as a basis for a large-n online survey. The survey instrument was constructed using the opinion statements taken from the original Q-methodology study.…”