UCFV Library Ebook Survey - Summarized Comments
Q.2 How have you located ebooks? | Total |
| Google (Google, Google Books, Scholar) | 9 |
| Project Gutenberg | 4 |
| Other universities (UBC, U of Calgary) | 3 |
| Downloaded them online (free) | 3 |
| Internet, Internet search | 3 |
| Referral from instructor | 3 |
| Manybooks.net | 1 |
| isohunt | 1 |
| Publisher | 1 |
| Purchased them online | 1 |
| Downloaded them online (illegally) | 1 |
| bartleby.com | 1 |
| General search for title or articles | 1 |
| Interwebs | 1 |
| Maple | 1 |
| ftp sites | 1 |
| Link from another site | 1 |
| File sharing programs | 1 |
| Referral from friend | 1 |
| Wordcat | 1 |
| I haven't yet | 1 |
| Website Advertising | 1 |
| |
| |
| Q.7 Under what circumstances do you use ebooks? | Total |
| For research | 125 |
| Only copy available (no print at UCFV, signed out, alternative to ILL) | 66 |
| Convenience (can work from home, saves time, less effort, portability) | 35 |
| General knowledge or personal interest | 11 |
| Broaden range of sources (depth, breadth) | 10 |
| Special features (searching, cutting/pasting) | 9 |
| Obscure, older work available online | 6 |
| Cost Savings | 5 |
| Need only a small part of a work | 4 |
| Assigned reading or textbook | 3 |
| Currency | 2 |
| Disability (computer reading text aloud) | 2 |
| To preview before purchasing or ordering on ILL | 2 |
| Environmentally friendly | 2 |
| For everything | 1 |
| |
| |
| Q.9 Please comment on what you like or dislike about using ebooks |
| Dislikes | Total |
| Reading on the screen (hard on the eyes, glare, tiring, headaches, recall) | 86 |
| Printing out pages (cost, inconvenience, waste of paper) | 37 |
| Prefer books (tactile experience, layout, flipping pages) | 37 |
| Needing to sit at or use a computer (comfort in seating, posture, reading in bed) | 29 |
| Not enough selection. Need more ebooks, on a wider variety of topics | 17 |
| Lack on instruction on how to use them, or difficult to use or navigate | 11 |
| Waiting for pages to load, problems with internet (slow, crashing, down), O/S problems | 10 |
| Harder to take notes, do highlighting, skim read | 8 |
| Not transportable (can't read on bus, in park) | 7 |
| Hard to find them, or information in them | 7 |
| Restrictions on number of users (Netlibrary) | 6 |
| Lack of permanence in subscription titles | 5 |
| Need better readers (cheaper, better screens, smaller and portable) | 4 |
| Distracted by being on the internet | 2 |
| Catalogue listings (appear first in searches, not enough details) | 2 |
| Lacking Chicago style citation format | 1 |
| |
| Likes | Total |
| Accessibility (from anywhere, any time, quick/immediate, no need to go to library) | 83 |
| Convenience, flexibility, usefulness | 28 |
| Haven't used yet, but it sounds like a good idea that I'll like | 22 |
| Don't need to sign out, renew, put on hold, no late fees, can't get lost or damaged | 13 |
| Searchability | 10 |
| Increased access to needed content, expands the library collection, rare content | 10 |
| Special features (highlighting, taking notes, cutting/pasting) | 9 |
| Cost savings | 7 |
| Paper free, ecofriendly | 6 |
| Easy to locate them, and information in them | 6 |
| Easy to use, navigate | 6 |
| Good variety, selection | 4 |
| Downloading, saving | 3 |
| Can preview books before purchasing or ordering on ILL | 2 |
| Easy to cite | 2 |
| Computer reading text aloud | 1 |
| Beneficial to success as a student | 1 |
| Can print off pages and write on them | 1 |
| |
