Question 2 WSU Survey

All Respondents

	n	%
1 (lowest)	12	3.1
2	16	4.2
3	42	11.0
4	83	21.8
5 (highest)	228	59.8
Total	381	100.0

Print Books

(Count)

	n	%
1 (lowest)	102	26.8
2	63	16.5
3	67	17.6
4	62	16.3
5 (highest)	87	22.8
Total	381	100.0

Electronic Books

(Count)

Just over 81% of all respondents considered print books as very important (4 or 5 rating) while only 39% gave similar ratings to electronic books. Overall, the importance of print books is substantially higher than that of electronic books. It is not known is this reflects a format preference, a lack of awareness of available electronic books, or the unavailability of electronic books in their disciplines.

All Respondents

	Print		Electronic
	n	%	n	%
5 (highest)	228	59.8	87	22.8
4	83	21.8	62	16.3
3	42	11.0	67	17.6
2	16	4.2	63	16.5
1 (lowest)	12	3.1	102	26.8
Total	381	100.0	381	100.0

Print and Electronic Books Combined

Participants clearly prefer print books to electronic books. Slightly over one half of the samples consider electronic media to be at or above the middle importance. These findings are in line with and are supported by the answers to question number four and question number five.

All Respondents by Academic Status

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Faculty	5	5	22	41	107	180
	2.8	2.8	12.2	22.8	59.4	100.0
Graduate	2	5	9	32	57	105
	1.9	4.8	8.6	30.5	54.3	100.0
Undergraduate	1	5	4	2	39	51
	2.0	9.8	7.8	3.9	76.5	100.0
Staff	4	1	7	7	20	39
	10.3	2.6	17.9	17.9	51.3	100.0
Other	0	0	0	1	5	6
	.0	.0	.0	16.7	83.3	100.0
Total	12	16	42	83	228	381
	3.1	4.2	11.0	21.8	59.8	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

Print Books

Undergraduate student respondents were more like to give the highest rating of 5 to the importance of print books than other user groups, i.e. 81%, compared to less than 60% of respondents in all other categories. Faculty and graduate students had very similar responses to this question.

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Faculty	59	34	38	23	26	180
	32.8	18.9	21.1	12.8	14.4	100.0
Graduate	20	17	17	19	32	105
	19.0	16.2	16.2	18.1	30.5	100.0
Undergraduate	10	6	6	9	20	51
	19.6	11.8	11.8	17.6	39.2	100.0
Staff	10	5	5	10	9	39
	25.6	12.8	12.8	25.6	23.1	100.0
Other	3	1	1	1	0	6
	50.0	16.7	16.7	16.7	.0	100.0
Total	102	63	67	62	87	381
	26.8	16.5	17.6	16.3	22.8	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

Electronic Books

A larger percentage of undergraduate students gave the highest ratings for electronic books compared to other groups – although at a lower scale than for print books. Again, faculty and graduate students had similar responses although a significantly higher percentage of faculty than graduate students gave the lowest rating (1) to electronic books. In fact, a much higher percentage in all categories gave the lowest ratings (1 or 2) to electronic books than to print books.

Faculty by Subject Division -- Print Books

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5
Business	1	2	4	5	7	19
	5.3	10.5	21.1	26.3	36.8	100.0
Education	1	0	2	4	12	19
	5.3	.0	10.5	21.1	63.2	100.0
Engineering	2	1	2	4	9	18
	11.1	5.6	11.1	22.2	50.0	100.0
Fine Arts	0	0	1	1	14	16
	.0	.0	6.3	6.3	87.5	100.0
Health Sci.	0	0	6	5	5	16
	.0	.0	37.5	31.3	31.3	100.0
Humanities	0	0	0	3	17	20
	.0	.0	.0	15.0	85.0	100.0
Sciences	1	1	4	8	17	31
	3.2	3.2	12.9	25.8	54.8	100.0
Social Sci.	0	0	2	8	21	31
	.0	.0	6.5	25.8	67.7	100.0
Library	0	0	0	3	5	8
	.0	.0	.0	37.5	62.5	100.0
Other	0	1	1	0	0	2
	.0	50.0	50.0	.0	.0	100.0
Total	5	5	22	41	107	180
	2.8	2.8	12.2	22.8	59.4	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

Overall, a relatively high percentage rated the importance of print books as a 4 or 5 – 82% of the faculty respondents. Humanities was at the higher end of the spectrum with 100% of the faculty rating print books as a 4 or 5. Fine Arts and Social Sciences were close with 94% of the faculty giving print books the highest ratings. It is interesting to note the “lowest” percentage of high ratings – from Business and Health Sciences faculty at 64% -- is still a relatively high percentage. Support for print collections appears to have strong overall support from faculty.

Faculty by Subject Division -- Electronic Books

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5
Business	4	2	6	3	4	19
	21.1	10.5	31.6	15.8	21.1	100.0
Education	1	5	5	3	5	19
	5.3	26.3	26.3	15.8	26.3	100.0
Engineering	7	6	2	2	1	18
	38.9	33.3	11.1	11.1	5.6	100.0
Fine Arts	9	2	1	2	2	16
	56.3	12.5	6.3	12.5	12.5	100.0
Health Sci.	3	5	2	3	3	16
	18.8	31.3	12.5	18.8	18.8	100.0
Humanities	7	4	5	3	1	20
	35.0	20.0	25.0	15.0	5.0	100.0
Sciences	11	1	8	5	6	31
	35.5	3.2	25.8	16.1	19.4	100.0
Social Sci.	14	6	7	2	2	31
	45.2	19.4	22.6	6.5	6.5	100.0
Library	3	3	1	0	1	8
	37.5	37.5	12.5	.0	12.5	100.0
Other	0	0	1	0	1	2
	.0	.0	50.0	.0	50.0	100.0
Total	59	34	38	23	26	180
	32.8	18.9	21.1	12.8	14.4	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

Electronic books rated the least important among faculty of the material categories surveyed. Only 14% of the faculty rated e-books as of the highest importance while 33% gave them the lowest ratings possible. Among the subject division, Education, Business, and Health Sciences faculty generally rated e-books more highly than other divisions. Fine Arts, Social Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities faculty gave relatively low ratings to e-books. It would be interesting to explore the reasons why the ratings were low or high, e.g. lack of awareness of e-book holdings, not enough holdings in particular areas, interface problems, etc.

Graduate Students by Subject Division -- Print Books

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Business	0	0	3	0	2	5
	.0	.0	60.0	.0	40.0	100.0
Education	1	4	2	10	8	25
	4.0	16.0	8.0	40.0	32.0	100.0
Engineering	1	1	1	3	11	17
	5.9	5.9	5.9	17.6	64.7	100.0
Fine Arts	0	0	0	2	4	6
	.0	.0	.0	33.3	66.7	100.0
Health Sci.	0	0	0	1	1	2
	.0	.0	.0	50.0	50.0	100.0
Humanities	0	0	0	5	5	10
	.0	.0	.0	50.0	50.0	100.0
Sciences	0	0	1	3	9	13
	.0	.0	7.7	23.1	69.2	100.0
Social Sci.	0	0	2	8	17	27
	.0	.0	7.4	29.6	63.0	100.0
Total	2	5	9	32	57	105
	1.9	4.8	8.6	30.5	54.3	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

Overall, nearly 84% of the graduate student respondents gave a high rating (4 or 5) to importance of print books. Graduate students in the Fine Arts, Health Sciences, Humanities, and Social Sciences rated print books with a 4 or 5 while there was more a mix in ratings among the students in Education and Engineering. Business had the smallest percentage of ratings of over 4 among the disciplines.

Graduate Students by Subject Division -- Electronic Books

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Business	0	1	1	2	1	5
	.0	20.0	20.0	40.0	20.0	100.0
Education	5	5	3	5	7	25
	20.0	20.0	12.0	20.0	28.0	100.0
Engineering	1	3	2	3	8	17
	5.9	17.6	11.8	17.6	47.1	100.0
Fine Arts	0	0	3	0	3	6
	.0	.0	50.0	.0	50.0	100.0
Health Sci.	0	0	1	0	1	2
	.0	.0	50.0	.0	50.0	100.0
Humanities	1	3	3	1	2	10
	10.0	30.0	30.0	10.0	20.0	100.0
Sciences	4	0	0	3	6	13
	30.8	.0	.0	23.1	46.2	100.0
Social Sci.	9	5	4	5	4	27
	33.3	18.5	14.8	18.5	14.8	100.0
Total	20	17	17	19	32	105
	19.0	16.2	16.2	18.1	30.5	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

A much smaller percentage of graduate student respondents gave a high rating of over 4 to the importance of electronic books compared to print books – 48%. A greater percentage of students in the sciences and engineering considered books highly important while the lowest ratings came from students in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

Undergraduate Students by Subject Division -- Print Books

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Business	0	3	1	0	7	11
	.0	27.3	9.1	.0	63.6	100.0
Education	0	0	2	0	0	2
	.0	.0	100.0	.0	.0	100.0
Engineering	1	0	0	0	2	3
	33.3	.0	.0	.0	66.7	100.0
Fine Arts	0	1	0	1	3	5
	.0	20.0	.0	20.0	60.0	100.0
Health Sci.	0	1	0	0	2	3
	.0	33.3	.0	.0	66.7	100.0
Humanities	0	0	0	0	3	3
	.0	.0	.0	.0	100.0	100.0
Sciences	0	0	0	0	6	6
	.0	.0	.0	.0	100.0	100.0
Social Sci.	0	0	1	1	15	17
	.0	.0	5.9	5.9	88.2	100.0
Other	0	0	0	0	1	1
	.0	.0	.0	.0	100.0	100.0
Total	1	5	4	2	39	51
	2.0	9.8	7.8	3.9	76.5	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

Just over 80% of undergraduate student respondents gave either a 4 or 5 rating to print books. The relatively low number of respondents makes it hard to see any trends across subject areas.

Undergraduate Students by Subject Division -- Electronic Books

(n / %)	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Business	2	2	0	3	4	11
	18.2	18.2	.0	27.3	36.4	100.0
Education	0	0	0	0	2	2
	.0	.0	.0	.0	100.0	100.0
Engineering	0	0	0	0	3	3
	.0	.0	.0	.0	100.0	100.0
Fine Arts	0	1	0	3	1	5
	.0	20.0	.0	60.0	20.0	100.0
Health Sci.	0	0	1	1	1	3
	.0	.0	33.3	33.3	33.3	100.0
Humanities	1	1	0	1	0	3
	33.3	33.3	.0	33.3	.0	100.0
Sciences	3	0	1	0	2	6
	50.0	.0	16.7	.0	33.3	100.0
Social Sci.	4	2	4	1	6	17
	23.5	11.8	23.5	5.9	35.3	100.0
Other	0	0	0	0	1	1
	.0	.0	.0	.0	100.0	100.0
Total	10	6	6	9	20	51
	19.6	11.8	11.8	17.6	39.2	100.0
1 = (lowest) 5 = (highest)

Electronic books were generally rated less important than other formats. Only 57% of undergraduate student respondents gave higher ratings to electronic books while 20% of all students gave e-books the lowest rating possible (1). The lower ratings were especially prevalent in the Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences.