Are e‐readers suitable tools for scholarly work? Results from a user test
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-12-2011-0221 |
| Date | 14 June 2013 |
| Pages | 388-404 |
| Published date | 14 June 2013 |
| Author | Siegfried Schomisch,Maria Zens,Philipp Mayr |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Are e-readers suitable
tools for scholarly work?
Results from a user test
Siegfried Schomisch
Knowledge Technologies for the Social Sciences,
GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany
Maria Zens
Specialized Information for the Social Sciences,
GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany
Philipp Mayr
Knowledge Technologies for the Social Sciences,
GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer insights into the usability, acceptance and limitations
of e-readers with regard to the specific requirements of scholarly text work. To fit into the academic
workflow, non-linear reading, bookmarking, commenting, extracting text or the integration of
non-textual elements must be supported.
Design/methodology/approach – A group of social science students were questioned about their
experiences with electronic publications for study purposes. This same group executed several
text-related tasks with the digitized material presented to them in two different file formats on four
different e-readers. Their performances were subsequently evaluated in detail.
Findings – E-publications have made advances in the academic world; however e-readers do not yet
fit seamlessly into the established chain of scholarly text-processing focusing on how readers use
material during and after reading. The authors’ tests revealed major deficiencies in these techniques.
Originality/value – The usability test of e-readers in a scientific context aligns with both studies on
the prevalence of e-books in the sciences and technical test reports of portable reading devices. Still, it
takes a distinctive angle in focusing on the characteristics and procedures of textual work in the social
sciences and measures the usability of e-readers and file-features against these standards.
Keywords E-readers,E-books, User satisfaction,Digital documents, Usability,Adoption of technology,
Reading techniques,Scholarly text work
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
This is a revised and updated version of the paper “eBooks fu
¨r Fachwissenschaftler. Ein
Testbericht zu aktuellen E-Readern”, written by Ute Koch, Siegfried Schomisch, Wei Shen, Maria
Zens and Philipp Mayr, delivered at the WissKom2010 Conference, in Ju
¨lich, Germany. The
authors wish to thank Rolf Porst and Peter Pru
¨fer in the cognitive lab of the Department of
Survey Design and Methodology (area of Pretesting), GESIS, as well as Ralf Depping and
Wilfried Steinhoff of the University and City Library of Cologne, without whose support the tests
could not have been realised so smoothly. The authors also would like to thank Matthias Stahl
for his advice during the compilation of the questionnaire and the statistical evaluation of data,
as well as Jannik Johannsen (trainee) and Robert Weichselbaum (student assistant).
OIR
37,3
388
Received 19 December 2011
Second revision approved
5 May 2012
Online Information Review
Vol. 37 No. 3, 2013
pp. 388-404
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-12-2011-0221
Introduction
E-books are on the rise in science and libraries and are becoming serious competitors to
the classic printed book. The literature offers different definitions of e-books, extending
from an electronic monograph up to “any piece of electronic text, regardless of size or
composition (a digital object), but excluding journal publications, made available
electronically (or optically) for any device (handheld or desk-bound) that includes a
screen” (Armstrong et al., 2002, p. 217).
The Joint Information Systems Committee ( JISC) generally applies the term
“e-book” “to generic e-books available via the library, retail channels or on the web”
(Joint Information Systems Committee, 2009, p. b). The following definition is more
detailed and differentiated:
(1) An e-book is a digital object with textual and/or other content, which arises as a result of
integrating the familiar concept of a book with features that can be provided in an electronic
environment. (2) E-books typically have in-use features such as search and cross reference
functions, hypertext links, bookmarks, annotations, highlights, multimedia objects and
interactive tools (Vassiliou and Rowley, 2008, p. 363).
E-books represent a radical change in reading and usage of scientific texts. Typically,
scientific texts possess high information density. For text understanding, selective
techniques are essential for successful study. “Read only” appears insufficient in a
scholarly context; additional features for printing, marking, annotating, and excerpting
are crucial for textual work in academia.
Digital libraries have advanced and promoted the digitisation of books (Candela
et al., 2011), storing texts in different digital formats and providing a search interface to
locate these digital resources. This development was accompanied by the rollout of
portable e-book readers beginning in 1999 with the “Rocket eBook” in the US market.
The introduction of the Amazon Kindle in 2007 was the decisive breakthrough for
e-readers, and was soon followed by others (Sony, Barnes & Noble, etc.). The
introduction of the Apple iPad in 2010 as a tablet portable device was the next
important innovation for using digital e-books online.
Many market analysis comparisons, both general and international, of surveys
(e.g. Primary Research Group, 2009, 2011; NACS OnCampus Research, 2011) and
overviews, for example the SWOT analysis of e-books and e-readers in Moss (2010,
p. 58), examined consumer attitudes towards, and interest in digital reading (Grzesc hik
et al., 2011; Mussinelli, 2010; PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2010; Vassiliou and Rowley,
2008). The number of adults who own an e-reader doubled in the USA from 6 per cent
in November 2010 to 12 per cent in May 2011, while tablet computer ownership grew
more slowly in the corresponding period (Purcell, 2011).
Our survey and user tests attempted to gain insights into the usage and acceptance
of e-books in typical scientific reading scenarios (see also Koch et al., 2010). The main
issue is whether any of the commonly selected e-readers and/or the iPad can be used for
typical, simple scientific work with literature. We examined the usability, handling and
performance of these devices based on practical tests. Our results are discussed in the
context of similar studies.
State of the art
In the literature a number of scientific approaches towards e-book research emerge
from information and library science and other cross-disciplinary academic areas, such
E-readers for
scholarly work
389
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