Technology has not only changed the way we live, but also the way we write and read. In order to be updated, people need to read their "friends'" status and write a comment to cherish the friendship. Likewise, to have a place on the social network, some people think, select, and devise what they are going to "narrate" on their status carefully and with a purpose. Then, they are looking forward to a comment about it. Admittedly, the impacts of the Internet especially social network like facebook and twitter make people read and write more. People seem to get used to reading from a computer's screen, a laptop's, a tablet's, or even from a smart phone's. That is when e-books become a big business. Many gadgets are now designed for e-books. It actually becomes a fashion, reading from a tablet on subway. E-books are varied from novels to textbooks. More and more newspaper and magazines are planning to have their next issues in two versions: original printed version and e-version, even Stephen King starts to care about the world and the trees by launching his novel "Mile 81" in an e-version. Book lovers get worried about the downfall of reading culture. Will everyone turn back on print book? Will people carry their tablets to read in the park instead of a book with the smell of paper and ink? To confess, I am one of the conservative readers who are crazy about print books.
After reading an article "But I want a Real Book" by Cynthia Gregory, a librarian and Head of Electronic Resource at a college in Ohio, I know I am not alone. Cynthia's survey in 2006 is to investigate the college's undergraduates' usage and attitudes toward electronic books. The findings show that students prefer using traditional print books. The observation demonstrates that when students search library's catalog and find the e-textbook that has the information they want, they feel reluctant to pursue it. One day, while Gregory explained to a library's patron that the book she wanted was only in electronic version, the patron said "But I want a real book." Along with the verbal, she made hand gestures like opening and closing a book. Students who prefer print book said they "like to have books in hand, hold them and take home". Supporters of print book claim that print book is tangible, touchable, and real. That tells something about how human relate themselves with books. The librarian concludes that the love of books as objects to cuddle remains quite strong even in the digital age. Another 2010 article "E-books or text books: Students prefer textbooks" by a group of researchers from School of Psychological Sciences, University of Northern Carolina confirms the popularity of print books over e-books. They found that students still prefer print books despite special features such as hyperlinks from e-books. They think print books are more credential and less distracting. Also, they can retain knowledge from print book easier than from e-books by highlighting and hand-writing on print books. Both articles suggest that students do not actually "read" e-books like the way they read print books, they just use it like e-journals and scan for specific information.
Personally speaking, e-book is like chatting with someone you love via keyboard. It's quicker, cheaper, and more convenient, but it can, at least in my life time, never substitute the feeling you get when you hug, touch and talk to your family without a screen between you and your beloved ones.
References
Gregory, C. L. (2008). "But I want a real book": An investigation of undergraduates usage and attitudes toward electronic books. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 47(3), 266-273.
http://ezproxy.library.usyd.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/217899046? accountid=14757
Woody W. D., Daniel D. B., Baker C. A. (2010). E-books or textbooks: students prefer textbooks. Computers & Education, 55 (3), pp. 945–948.
http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0360131510001120
Hi Dao,
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was really interesting and surprising! I would not have imagined that students would prefer a print book to an eBook - I certainly don't. I did note, however, that the Baker (2010) article was actually received (for publication) in 2009 so I suspect that the study itself was probably 2008 (possibly early 2009) and the Gregory article even earlier. Apple released its first iPad in 2010 and since then Tablet technology and ebooks have really taken off so I would be interested to see if there has been a change in perception.
Hi Dao,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on this issue. I personally do not like e-books0n or reading articles online. I am a huge technology-addict myself, starting from PAD, smartphone, kindle, iphone, ipad, anything you might know of, I probably had them and used them. The only thing I can never get used to is to lose the touch of the paper. One may argue it is the habit that I need to get over with, however, the habit could not be replaced for some reason. The same thing was found in my students that they were offered e-books at school, but they would rather carry the 2kg biology book to my room than carry an ipad. Reason? I guess it's obvious.