Print vs. electronic resources: A study of user
perceptions, preferences, and use
Ziming Liu
*School of Library and Information Science, San Jose State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0029, USA Received 23 September 2004; accepted 10 December 2004
Available online 23 February 2005
Abstract
The arrival and proliferation of electronic resources and digital libraries have a number of significant impacts on the use of print resources and traditional libraries. This study explores the extent to which graduate students in a metro-politan university setting use print and electronic resources. Reading preferences and use of print and electronic resources vary among different disciplines. Graduate students seem to expect a hybrid of print and electronic resources. They desire to meet their information needs through a mix of print and online resources, even though reasons for sup-plementing another type of resource differ. Circumstances that affect the selection of use between digital libraries and traditional libraries are also discussed.
Ó2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Print resource; Electronic resource; Digital library
1. Introduction
The arrival and proliferation of electronic resources and digital libraries have already influenced and changed the way students and scholars use print resources and traditional libraries. It has also sparked a new wave of literature on the perceptions and preferences of print and electronic resources. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty have different perceptions and preferences in their choices of print and electronic resources. Previous studies focus on the perceptions and preferences of print and electronic resources of undergraduate students and faculty. However, few studies specifically focus on graduate
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students. Moreover, very little is known about the circumstances that influence their choice of format of resources and the type of libraries (i.e., traditional vs. digital) to satisfy their information needs.
This study attempts to investigate the extent to which graduate students in a metropolitan university set-ting use print and electronic resources. Another purpose of this study is to examine the importance of sub-ject discipline to reading preferences and use of print and electronic resources. Studying these issues would enable us to better understand the changing patterns of information use in the increasingly intensive digital environment.
2. Literature review
Over the past few years, peopleÕs perceptions of and preferences for print and electronic resources have
been the focus of numerous studies. Most of these studies were conducted in the academic environment, with particular attention given to surveying students and faculty.
Dilevko and Gottlieb (2002)conduct a web-based survey of undergraduate library users at the Univer-sity of Toronto. They find that while undergraduate students typically begin assignments and essays using electronic resources, traditional print resources (e.g., books and printed journals) remain crucial
compo-nents in their research because of their reliability and permanent accessibility.Strouse (2004) shows that
users (especially younger users) have developed a clear preference for receiving information in electronic
formats. Liew, Foo, and Chennupati (2000) conduct a survey of 83 graduate students to study their use
and perceptions of electronic journals. They find that a vast majority of graduate students (73%) prefer elec-tronic journals over print journals. Commonly cited reasons include links to additional resources, searching
capability, currency, availability, and ease of access. Sathe, Grady, and Giuse (2002)report that fellows,
students, and residents favor electronic journals, and faculty prefer print journals. Ease of access, ease of printing, and ease of searching are among the most commonly cited reasons for preferring electronic journals.
In an investigation of the faculty electronic journal usage at the University of Georgia,Smith (2003)
re-ports that junior faculty tend to use electronic resources more than senior faculty.Lenares (1999)finds that
convenience, timeliness, and the ability to search text are the most important factors influencing facultyÕs
choice of electronic over print materials. On the other hand, the ability to browse, portability, physical com-fort, and convenience are the most important characteristics leading them to choose print over electronic
resources. Bonthron and other researchers (2003) examine the views of academic staff and students at
the University of Edinburgh on the advantages and limitations of electronic journals. They find that ‘‘aca-demic staff incorporate electronic journal usage into their working patterns in different ways than students and that these differences may affect attitudes towards support services (library web pages, virtual learning environments) designed to promote electronic journal usage.’’
UsersÕexpectations of libraries and their patterns of library use are changing as they find more
informa-tion readily available from the web.Boyce, King, Montgomery, and Tenopir (2004) examined how
elec-tronic journals are changing the reading patterns of scholars over the past decade. Friedlander (2002)
finds that ‘‘faculty and graduate students seem to expect a hybrid environment of print and electronic
re-sources, while undergraduates seem more willing to live in a wholly online world.’’Dillon and Hahn (2002)
find that 70% of the faculty at the University of Maryland want core journals in both print and electronic format. A report released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that 73% of college students reported they use the Internet more than the library for research, however, only 9% said that they still gather
information the old-fashioned way (Balas, 2003). Access to electronic resources not only influences the way
students and scholars conduct research, it also changes the way they use the traditional library.Schaffner
(2001) observes that: ‘‘on several occasions, students have requested assistance in changing the focus of their research to a topic that could be searched using only electronic sources.’’ The trend toward the
exclusive use of electronic resources should be cause for concern about the direction of scholarship, since a
wealth of research material is not now—and may never be—available in electronic formats (Schaffner,
2001).
Unlike users in traditional libraries, digital library users are basically invisible to librarians. Early and
continuous involvement from potential participants is a critical step to understanding usersÕexpectations
so as to serve their needs more effectively (Giersch et al., 2004).Ackerman (1994) stresses: ‘‘As we build
the digital library, we need to be careful not to carelessly obliterate some of the important features of cur-rent libraries.’’ He further points out that ‘‘the need for help in selecting material, the desirability of infor-mal information, the ad hoc and contextual nature of most information seeking, the personal enjoyability and community benefits from social interaction—all argue for the inclusion of some form of social inter-action within the digital library.’’
Because of the limitation of space, it seems impractical to cover all related literature. For a
comprehen-sive overview and analysis of recent studies, please seeTenopir (2003).
3. Methodology
Undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty have different perceptions and preferences in their choice of print and electronic resources. Previous studies have focused on the perceptions and prefer-ences of print and electronic resources of undergraduate students and faculty. However, few studies have focused on graduate students exclusively. This study attempts to explore the extent to which graduate stu-dents in a metropolitan university setting use print and electronic resources. For the purpose of this study, electronic resources include both electronic-only resources and materials that are available both electron-ically and in print.
In this study, a cluster of 13 questions was designed to gather information about the perceptions, pref-erences, and use of print and electronic resources of graduate students. At the most basic level, the ques-tionnaire was designed to find out:
What type of information sources do you usually consult first?
How often do you use online sources for your studies?
How often do you use print sources for your studies?
How often do you read online?
How often do you print out electronic documents?
If you find the information you need from digital libraries, will you still try to look for more information
from traditional libraries?
If you find the information you need from traditional libraries, will you still try to look for more
infor-mation from digital libraries?
These basic questions were designed with the goal of achieving a high response rate. Moreover, in order to achieve a deeper understanding of their preferences and circumstances that affect their choice of format of resources and the type of libraries (i.e., traditional vs. digital), an optional section consisting of the fol-lowing six questions was included at the end of the questionnaire. These six questions were used to gather their open-ended thoughts related to their preferences and use:
In your opinion, what are the 3 most significant advantages of digital libraries?
In your opinion, what are the 3 most significant advantages of traditional libraries?
From your experience, what are the 3 most significant barriers in using digital libraries?
Under what circumstances do you prefer digital libraries to traditional libraries?
Under what circumstances do you prefer traditional libraries to digital libraries?
One hundred and eighty copies of the questionnaire were distributed to students at San Jose State Uni-versity either in class, at the library, or at the student center during the Spring 2004 semester. Therefore, this is a sample of convenience rather than a random sample. Participants in this study are graduate students from diverse disciplines. Participants were asked to fill out the questionnaires based on their experiences in using electronic and print resources for research purposes and to complete the optional open-ended ques-tions if possible.
Of the 136 questionnaires returned, 133 are complete and 3 incomplete. Among the 133 completed ques-tionnaires, 42 are from students in library and information science (LIS), 33 from business administration, 35 from computer science, and 23 from social sciences (e.g., history and political science). The results of the
133 completed questionnaires are presented inTables 1–4.
Fifty-one of the 133 completed questionnaires include answers to the optional section. Results from the
51 individuals who completed the optional questions are summarized inTables 5–7.
4. Findings and discussion
When asked what type of information sources respondents usually consult first when completing their assignments and essays, 51.9% of all respondents turn first to library online information resources (e.g.,
e-journals) and 28.6% to the WWW (seeTable 1). It seems that the characteristics of electronic resources
(i.e., convenient access and ease in searching) are the chief factors contributing to the selection of these two most frequently cited first choices. Only 15.8% of all respondents begin with library printed sources (e.g., printed books and journals) when completing their assignments and essays. Five participants cite personal collections as their first choice. Undergraduate students tend to use the WWW as a primary information
source, usually with little regard to the reliability of the information.Graham and Metaxas (2003)report
that undergraduate students prefer to search the Internet first for school-related tasks. Unlike most under-graduate students who first consult the Internet, over half of all under-graduate students in this survey (51.9%) first turn to library online information resources (e.g., e-journals). Graduate students are heavy users of
library electronic resources. This finding is also confirmed by other recent studies (Rudner,
Miller-White-head, & Gellmann, 2002; Tenopir, 2003). Friedlander (2002)explains that the subscription of electronic journals is less than 1% among respondents. The low level of subscription implies that faculty and graduate students rely on third party access, presumably the library.
Recent studies have shown the importance of subject discipline to source preferences (Dilevko &
Gott-lieb, 2002; Smith, 2003). Another recent study by Siebenberg, Galbraith, and Brady (2004) also suggests
Table 1
Types of information sources first consult Type of information sources Library and information science (n= 42) Business (n= 33) Computer science (n= 35) Social sciences (n= 23) Total (n= 133) Library online resources 30 (71.4%) 14 (42.4%) 13 (37.1%) 12 (52.2%) 69 (51.9%)
Library printed books 3 (7.1%) 0 (0.0%) 4 (11.4%) 3 (13.0%) 10 (7.5%)
Library printed journals 4 (9.5%) 3 (9.0%) 1 (2.9%) 3 (13.0%) 11 (8.3%)
WWW 4 (9.5%) 16 (48.5%) 14 (40.0%) 4 (17.4%) 38 (28.6%)
Others 1 (2.4%) 0 (0.0%) 3 (8.6%) 1 (4.3%) 5 (3.8%)
that usersÕmigration from print to electronic resources is dependent on the subject area.Table 1shows that graduate students in different disciplines have different preferences for information sources when they com-plete their assignments and essays. 71.4% respondents in LIS cite library online sources as the first stop for information, compared to 42.4% in business, 37.1% in computer science, and 52.2% in social sciences
(x2= 12.27,p< 0.01). On the other hand, students in business and computer science tend to first consult
information sources from the WWW more heavily than those in LIS and in social sciences: 48.5% in
busi-ness and 40.0% in computer science vs. 9.5% in LIS and 17.4% in social sciences (x2= 13.86, p< 0.01).
These statistical tests indicate that subject disciplines do make a difference in their choice of information, and LIS students are unique in their choice of using library online resources (e.g., e-journals). Factors that may affect the strong preference for library online resources by students in LIS include familiarity, avail-ability, and convenience. It is very likely that students in LIS are more knowledgeable about or familiar with library online sources than students in other fields. Another explanation is that research materials in LIS may not be as readily available from the WWW as those in business administration and computer science.
Electronic sources are more frequently used than print sources.Table 2shows that 84.2% of all
respon-dents use electronic sources ‘‘all the time’’ or ‘‘most of the time’’, compared to 54.2% who use printed sources ‘‘all the time’’ or ‘‘most of the time’’. The use of electronic and print resources varies among dif-ferent disciplines. Electronic sources are more heavily used by students in computer science, business, and LIS than those in social sciences. 91.4% of respondents in computer science, 90.9% in business, and 85.7% in LIS report that they use electronic sources ‘‘all the time’’ or ‘‘most of the time’’, compared to only 60.9% in social sciences. On the other hand, students in LIS and social sciences use print sources more fre-quently than those in computer science and business.
According to Table 3, 33.8% of all participants in this survey ‘‘always’’ or ‘‘frequently’’ read online.
More specifically, students in computer science (45.7%) and business (45.5%) tend to read more frequently online than those in LIS (21.4%) and social sciences (21.7%).
Even though the use of electronic sources and online reading habits vary by discipline, the frequency of printing out electronic documents is surprisingly similar across all disciplines: 80.9% of respondents in LIS, 81.8% in business, 80.0% in computer science, and 78.3% in social sciences report that they ‘‘always’’ or ‘‘frequently’’ print out electronic documents. This pattern is consistent with the findings in a number of re-cent studies. Respondents in other studies consistently report that they prefer printing out electronic
doc-uments for reading, and then do most of their reading from the printout (Cherry & Duff, 2002;King &
Montgomery, 2002;McKnight, 1997). Reading a real book is different from reading on a computer screen. One respondent notes that print material is user friendly. Reading print materials is less distracting than reading online. It seems that many people search or browse digital documents, but when they need to have
an in-depth reading of a document, they prefer to print it out for annotation (Liu & Stork, 2000).
Table 2
Frequency of using electronic and print sources Frequency Library and
information science (n= 42)
Business (n= 33) Computer science (n= 35)
Social sciences (n= 23)
Total (n= 133)
Electronic Printed Electronic Printed Electronic Printed Electronic Printed Electronic Printed All the time 14 (33.3%) 6 (14.3%) 15 (45.5%) 1 (3.0%) 14 (40.0%) 2 (5.7%) 9 (39.1%) 4 (17.4%) 52 (39.1%) 13 (9.8%) Most of the time 22 (52.4%) 27 (64.3%) 15 (45.5%) 10 (30.3%) 18 (51.4%) 9 (25.7%) 5 (21.7%) 13 (56.5%) 60 (45.1%) 59 (44.4%) Sometimes 4 (9.5%) 9 (21.4%) 3 (9.1%) 19 (57.6%) 2 (5.7%) 22 (62.9%) 5 (21.7%) 6 (26.1%) 14 (10.5%) 56 (42.1%) Rarely 2 (4.8%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 3 (9.1%) 1 (2.9%) 2 (5.7%) 4 (17.4%) 0 (0.0%) 7 (5.3%) 5 (3.8%) Never 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)
Participants in another study also report that print documents not only facilitate annotations, but also
enable easier comparisons to be made among all gathered sources (Dilevko & Gottlieb, 2002). Marshall
(1997) notes that ‘‘support for a smooth integration of annotating with reading—is the most difficult to interpret from a design point of view; yet, it is potentially the most important.’’ It is very likely that people will continue to print out electronic documents for annotation, even as they read materials in a digital
library (Marshall, 1997).
In response to the question: ‘‘If you find the information you need from digital libraries, will you still try to look for more information from traditional libraries?’’, 75.9% of all participants in this survey express the need to continue looking for more information from traditional libraries. The most commonly cited reasons for supplementing online resources with print resources include: to confirm the information found in digital libraries; to find more information from books; to browse the bookshelves; to find quality and reliable sources; to get older materials. One participant notes: ‘‘Not all information is available electroni-cally. I hate missing something that is really important.’’ It seems that graduate students are concerned about the coverage and quality of information obtained from digital libraries. Generally speaking, current information is more heavily used than older information. But we should not forget that in the digital age
where new information is widely available, people still need to use older materials (Liu, 2003). It is very
likely that older materials are used for research purposes while new information is used for keeping up
to date (Tenopir & King, 1998). Nearly 25% of the participants indicate there is no need to supplement
online resources with print resources. One participant points out: ‘‘If I have already found what I need, I will stop.’’ Another participant indicates: ‘‘It will take too much time to find additional information’’ from traditional libraries.
As shown inTable 4, over 85% of all participants report the need to supplement print resources with
online resources. The need for current information, coverage of materials not published in print, and the desire to find complete sources are primary reasons stated by participants. One respondent says: ‘‘I am hooked on digital. Digital libraries have good information as well.’’ It is also interesting to note that a
respondent indicates the desire to have documents in pdf format in order to be able to printcleancopies
as the reason for looking to digital libraries for additional information. Approximately 15% of all partic-Table 3
Frequency of reading online and printing out electronic documents Frequency Library and
information science (n= 42)
Business (n= 33) Computer science (n= 35)
Social sciences (n= 23)
Total (n= 133)
Read online Print out Read online Print out Read online Print out Read online Print out Read online Print out Always 2 (4.8%) 8 (19.0%) 4 (12.1%) 7 (21.2%) 4 (11.4%) 8 (22.9%) 2 (8.7%) 5 (21.7%) 12 (9.0%) 28 (21.1%) Frequently 7 (16.7%) 26 (61.9%) 11 (33.3%) 20 (60.6%) 12 (34.3%) 20 (57.1%) 3 (13.0%) 13 (56.5%) 33 (24.8%) 79 (59.4%) Sometimes 17 (40.5%) 8 (19.0%) 10 (30.3%) 6 (18.2%) 17 (48.6%) 6 (17.1%) 8 (34.8%) 5 (21.7%) 52 (39.1%) 25 (18.8%) Rarely 16 (38.1%) 0 (0.0%) 8 (24.2%) 0 (0.0%) 2 (5.7%) 1 (2.9%) 10 (43.5%) 0 (0.0%) 36 (27.1%) 1 (0.8%) Never 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) Table 4
The need for additional information from different types of libraries Will still look for more information from traditional libraries
Will still look for more information from digital libraries
Yes 101 (75.9%) 114 (85.7%)
No 32 (24.1%) 19 (14.3%)
ipants report no need to look for additional information from digital libraries. Reasons for not needing to
supplement print resources with online information include: ‘‘I donÕt want to spend time in front of
com-puters if I donÕt have to—I am on computers all day at work!’’. ‘‘Sometimes you get so much information.
It is hard to see what you really need’’, and ‘‘When I expect to find the information in a traditional library, that is what I want.’’
The majority of participants in this survey desire to meet their information needs through a mix of print and online resources, even though their reasons for supplementing another type of information differ. Graduate students seem to expect a hybrid of print and electronic resources. This finding is further
con-firmed by a few recent studies (Dilevko & Gottlieb, 2002;Friedlander, 2002).Friedlander (2002)also argues
that the desire for different media implies that the net effect of electronic sources is additive. The desire for
information from different types of libraries is also closely related to studentsÕperceptions of digital libraries
and traditional libraries (seeTables 5 and 6).
According toTable 5, digital libraries have a number of advantages that are absent from traditional
li-braries such as remote access, 24-hour access, and multiple users for a single source. However, traditional libraries also have their unique advantages (e.g., physical browsing, getting immediate help from a real per-son, and communal space for learning). For example, the digital environment offers a number of new ser-vice opportunities such as virtual reference. But participants in this survey also indicate the importance of getting help from a ‘‘real’’ person, and they perceive impersonal services as a limitation in the digital
envi-ronment (see alsoTable 6). Reference service is perhaps the most personal service offered by traditional
libraries. People may feel that a ‘‘real’’ librarian at a traditional reference desk will better serve them than
Table 5
Perceived advantages of digital libraries and traditional libraries
Digital libraries Traditional libraries
Access (remote access; 24-hour access; quick access; wider access)
Physical browsing/Being able to touch a real book Availability (no need to worry about a
source being checked out; no limit on what you can ‘‘take out’’)
Getting immediate help from a ‘‘real’’ person
Multiple use for single sources Quite place for study/Good atmosphere
Search capability Communal space for learning (e.g., public events and training programs) Links to additional information Getting more detailed information (e.g., books)
Access to archival and older information
Table 6
Perceived barriers of digital libraries and traditional libraries
Digital libraries Traditional libraries
Interface design problems (e.g., difficult to use) Time consuming (e.g., travel time and parking) Hard to ask for immediate help
(e.g., lack of a ‘‘real’’ librarian; very impersonal)
Inconvenience (e.g., open hours; closed during holidays)
Instability of online resources Availability (needed items have been checked out or not on the shelf) Need equipment and Internet access
(e.g., shift financial burden to users)
Easier to print at home than copy at libraries Discomfort with online reading Annoying patrons and unpleasant staff
Credibility and quality issues Library policy (e.g., short loan period; limited number of items to borrow; overdue fines; cannot have snacks and drinks)
Technical problems (e.g., system malfunction; poor dial-up connection)
getting reference questions answered via email from someone they cannot see.Balas (2003)notes:
‘‘refer-ence service doesnÕt mean settling for an impersonal service that sacrifices quality for immediacy or 24/7
availability’’ and the ‘‘reference librarian is virtualandreal’’.
The ability to access information that is not available locally is cited as the most notable advantage of digital libraries. The most frequently cited barrier of a digital library is its difficulty to use (e.g., hard to do effective searches, hard to move back and forth between two things, and hard to return to a document if careful notes are not taken). One respondent also points out that it is difficult to find non-English informa-tion in digital libraries because of the problem in keying foreign characters. Instability of online resources is another major concern. One respondent states: ‘‘Sometimes I am worried that my online sources will dis-appear prior to completing my research paper.’’
What type of libraries (i.e., traditional vs. digital) do respondents choose to satisfy their information
needs? As shown inTable 7, cost has a far-reaching effect on the selection of use between digital libraries
and traditional libraries. When they need to use their printers to avoid costly photocopying at traditional libraries, they will prefer to use digital libraries. However, if respondents had to pay to use online journals,
they would prefer using traditional libraries.Sathe et al. (2002) also find that respondents ‘‘valued access
from home and fast, free printing. Though it would be reasonable that patrons would prefer to print an
article at no cost rather than locate and photocopy an article at a fee’’ in a traditional library.Table 6also
shows that paying overdue fines is perceived as a drawback of traditional libraries.
The decision of use between digital libraries and traditional libraries is situational, as shown inTable 7.
For example, users prefer using digital libraries when they need to do research at midnight, when they need to get information immediately, or when assignments require up-to-minute information. However, when users need detailed and serious sources for major assignments, or when they require immediate help from
a reference librarian, they will switch to a traditional library. Dilevko and Gottlieb (2002)also find that
undergraduate students prefer electronic resources over their print equivalents when they want to cut and paste quotations directly into their essays.
5. Implications and conclusion
Users desire a hybrid information environment in which online information does not supplant informa-tion in print but adds new access opportunities for users to choose. Digital libraries and tradiinforma-tional libraries have their unique advantages and limitations; they satisfy the information needs of users in different cir-cumstances. Each plays a different role and each serves the needs of users in different ways. Digital libraries offer a wide range of new access opportunities that are absent in the traditional environment, including remote access, 24-hour access, and multiple users for single sources. However, the desire for physical brows-ing, the need for immediate help from a ‘‘real’’ person, and the desire for communal space for learning— Table 7
Circumstances affecting the use of digital libraries and traditional libraries
Preference of digital libraries over traditional libraries Preference of traditional libraries over digital libraries When I need to study all night (e.g., do research at 3 a.m.) When books are the primary sources of information When I donÕt want to travel (e.g., safer than being on the road) When I need immediate help from a reference librarian When I need to get information quickly When I need to browse the collection
When I need articles rather than books When I need a quiet place for study (e.g., get away from kids) When doing preliminary research When I have to pay online journals
When assignments require up-to-minute information or when brief assignments are of limited scope
When I need detailed and serious sources for major assignments
make a case for the importance of the traditional service environment. The hybrid library is likely to be a
model for the foreseeable future (Brophy, 2000;Leggate, 1998;Pinfield, 1998).
This study explores the extent to which graduate students in a metropolitan university setting in the Sil-icon Valley use print and electronic resources. The geographical limitations and small sample size of this study mean that the results cannot be generalized across all academic institutions. Many respondents in this survey are distance learners, which may in turn affect their preferences for and use of print and electronic resources. Studies in other geographical regions are needed to fully validate the findings.
It should also be noted that an entire generation is growing up with new technology and is likely to have different expectations and preferences toward the choice of digital libraries and traditional libraries.
Fur-thermore, technologies are constantly improving, which may have an impact on peopleÕs satisfaction with
reading electronic documents. Future studies are needed to continually monitor the changes in peopleÕs
per-ceptions and preferences, and their resultant impact on the selection of use between digital libraries and traditional libraries.
Acknowledgement
The study is supported by a 2004 Summer Research Grant from the School of Library and Information Science, San Jose State University. The author would like to thank Leslie Elmore for her assistance. The author also appreciates constructive comments from the anonymous referee.
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