STM publisher Springer Science+Business Media, Germany, recently conducted a survey highlighting prominent research and academic usage of eBooks. The survey, conducted in conjunction with five leading academic institutions, aimed to better understand the adoption of eBooks, the use of eBooks, and user perception of eBook advantages and disadvantages.
According to the survey, despite the recent emergence of eBooks, most users were already aware of their existence and had used them at least once, whether through libraries or other sources. The study also found that most users access eBooks for research and study purposes and that the types of eBooks frequently used were reference works and textbooks. The survey also focused on some of the perceived advantages of eBooks, citing the ability to gain 24/7 access for multiple users, convenient full-text searchability, and easy access to information. However, difficulty of reading books from a screen and preference for traditional print books were cited as the primary disadvantages.
Participating university libraries included University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Turku, Finland; Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI) Amsterdam, the Netherlands; University of Muenster, Germany; and the JRD Tata Memorial Library, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
In 2007 Springer Science+Business Media commissioned a survey which revealed that the Springer eBook programme was widely accepted among librarians.
