An investigation into student use of E-books : A focus on University of Bolton

The subject of e-books has received a lot of attention in the empirical literature, but mainly from the technical or library perspective. Consequently, the aim of this research was to develop a greater understanding of student perceptions towards e-books and their frequency of use. A quantitative approach was used, in the format of a questionnaire. The results revealed that e-books are of interest to students at University of Bolton, but they are not regarded as being as important as printed texts. Also, only 43.4% of students actually used the e-book collection. Lack of awareness was stated as the most popular reason for non-use. The most significant motivation for using e-books was its accessibility its ease of use and that it avoided traditional library problems such as fines, queues, etc. Another key influence upon the actual choice of whether to use e-books or not was lecturer recommendation. The majority of student-users expected their use of e-books to increase. Managerial implications of the study were noted and recommendations regarding improved information dissemination and training were made. Avenues for future research suggested a subsequent monitoring study to investigate temporal stability of e-books usage and a further study to investigate University of Bolton academic staff’s perceptions and attitudes towards e-books