Student responses to e-books: a study carried out at the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

Abstract

Traditionally printed books have been preferred as the best reading material by many of us. But with the latest advancement of the modern technology, nowadays some of us seem to appreciate E-Books (Electronic books) as the future of reading while majority of us still believe that these E-Books (Electronic books) will never be popular among readers and in an academic environment while many of the universities across the globe have adopted the concept of E-Books (Electronic books).However the E-Books (Electronic books) concept is still at its infancy in Sri Lanka and so far no research work has been conducted in Sri Lanka to investigate its impact on country's academic environment. Objective: This study was designed in order to understand Student's perception of E-Books (Electronic books) in an academic environment. Method: An anonymous questionnaire based on voluntary participation of the students, was distributed among the first year undergraduate students from the faculty of Allied Health Sciences at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and descriptive statistics were used for reporting purposes. Results: The sample was made of 174 students (67 males, 107 females) and 91 (52.29%) of them had used E-Books (Electronic books) previously for their studies as a standard reading material. Based on the responses received, 39% of the students preferred to read E-books over hard copy version books and the factors which may have affected their current preference to use hard copy books against E-books were also identified.156 students (89.65%), suggested that they would use E-books more frequently for the academic studies, if the recommended text books were available electronically and most astonishing finding of this study was that 97.12% (169 students) of them believed that the E-book concept will have a stronger impact on Sri Lanka academic environment in future. Conclusion: It was very evident that the students want the E-book facility at the faculty of Allied Health Sciences at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and it was evident that they wanted these E-books facility for their standard recommended text books so they can use these E-books more frequently and in a useful manner. Therefore more research work with large scale surveys such as library surveys with library users and direct one to one interviews with academics and educational consultants and also with the general public will provide a much deeper insight to the actual demand for E-books and its real potential impact it can have on Sri Lankan academia. Hence future financial investments for E-books need to be implemented as these have the great potential to offer great benefits to the institution itself, to the students, and academics at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.