Rare Books in the Classroom: Print or Electronic

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Rare Books in the Classroom Print or
Electronic?
LIS 514 Dina Sokolova
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Statement of the Problem

• Purpose of Study
• compare the use of print copies of the
  most
• demanded titles from the rare book collection
• of an academic library with the use of
  their
• electronic versions published on the library
• web site

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Statement of the Problem

• Null Hypothesis
• use of print books does not change when
• their electronic versions become available
• on the library website

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Limitations of Study

• Study is Limited to
• Comparative Literature, Art History, and History
  since the most part of digitized rare books is in
  these disciplines
• graduate seminar classes in these disciplines
  with enrollment of 15 to 20 people because these
  students constitute the majority of patrons who
  need rare books for writing research papers

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Methodology

• Assumptions
• request for digitization has been obtained from
  rare book department
• books have been digitized but not yet published
  
• electronic versions are planned to be uploaded to
  the library server by the beginning of the fall
  semester
• graduate students are experienced library catalog
  users, and well aware of E-books conception

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Methodology

• Collection of Statistical Data
• two successive semesters prior to the beginning
  of the fall semester when the selected titles
  existed only in print format, and two successive
  semesters after the fall semester commences when
  their electronic versions become available
• study group students of Graduate School of Arts
  and Sciences taking courses in Comparative
  Literature, Art History, and History

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Methodology

• Criteria for Selecting a Course
• course should be offered in all four semesters
  covered by this study
• one or more selected rare books should appear in
  the list of recommended literature for this
  course
• rare book department records should show that
  previously the majority of students taking this
  course visited the department to read the print
  material

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Methodology

• First Step of Study
• begins a month before the first day of the fall
  semester
• professors will be asked to state in the course
  assignments that starting with the fall semester
  particular books will be available in print and
  electronic format
• retrospective statistics on print versions for
  the books used in the selected courses will be
  obtained from the rare book department for the
  previous two semesters
• data will show the use of print rare books prior
  to publishing of their electronic versions on the
  website

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Methodology

• Second Step of Study
• begins on the first day of the fall semester
• statistical data will be collected for use of
  both print and electronic versions of the
  selected rare books
• data will be collected by means of transaction
  logs and web-based survey

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Methodology

• Transaction Logs
• capture the following data
• number of users accessing each particular E-book
• number of E-book sessions
• number of pages viewed during each session
• length of time each user spent in the E-book
• the only information about the user is a specific
  user ID

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Methodology

• E-book Catalog Record

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Methodology
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Expected Results

• It is Expected that
• publishing electronic versions of rare books will
  impact the use of print books
• use of electronic versions will depend on the
  discipline

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Expected Results

• Book Usage by Discipline

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Considerations for Future Research

• Future Directions
• follow-up survey is recommended to evaluate the
  improvement of online rare book collection
• user satisfaction survey could be developed