A collaborative study on the demands of mobile technology on virtual collection development was recently conducted by Mari Aaltonen, Saija Nieminen and Marja Hjelt from the Aalto University Library, Espoo, Finland, and Petri Mannonen from the Aalto University, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Strategic Usability Research Group, Finland. The research paper will be delivered at the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and Institutions World Library and Information Congress: 76th IFLA General Conference and Assembly on August 15, 2010 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
New technologies are seen to create new challenges as well as opportunities when libraries build their virtual collections. As e-book readers and other portable devices grow in popularity, collections can no longer be evaluated purely on the basis of content. Their adaptability and ease of use on various platforms have to be taken to account. This paper will present a study conducted at the Helsinki University of Technology Library, now a part of the Aalto University, from autumn of 2009 until summer of 2010. In collaboration with the Strategic Usability Research Group, various e-book readers were tested by both professionals and students. In the study, e-book readers were given to students for one study period with all the course material provided in electronic format. Five e-book readers were evaluated - Foxit eSlick, Bookeen, CyBook Opus, BeBook, Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-600.
Feedback from the students was collected through discussions, study diaries and questionnaires. The e-book readers were tested in order to see what demands and restrictions they pose on e-materials and how well the library’s current e-collections are usable on these devices. Results suggest incompatibilities with many licensed e-materials, whereas most open access materials can be easily downloaded and used.
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