Studies, Statistics and News You Can Use

Print Vs. E:  No verdict yet

Of the 14 percent of Americans who read both print and ebooks, an April 2012 study by the Pew Research Center found that 36 percent prefer ebooks, while just 24 percent prefer print—leaving some 40 percent without a preference. The results were drawn from the Internet & American Life Reading Habits Survey, which also found that most readers prefer printed books when reading to children and sharing aloud.

When reading in bed, the verdict was split: 45 percent say they prefer ebooks, while 43 percent say they like to lie back and relax with a good ol' p-book.

In general, most people who read both print and ebooks are in agreement about which format is most preferable for the situations presented (reading in bed being the one exception).

So which is better, a print book or an ebook? Stay tuned…

For more from the study, visit libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/ 04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

—Alexander Schwartz

Faculty, students  don't see eye-to-eye  on textbooks

With textbooks and higher education anticipated to become an increasingly hot topic this year, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and Bowker have released a study called Faculty Attitudes Toward Content In Higher Education (a potentially ongoing publication on the subject). The survey was developed as a companion to BISG's Student Attitudes Toward Content In Higher Education.

A comparison of both surveys illustrates two very different attitudes toward content. To wit:

• There is a discrepancy between what faculty and students report is "required" (as opposed to merely "recommended"). While 89 percent of faculty said that at least one textbook was required for their classes, only 73 percent of students thought their textbooks were required. While one could make the argument that these students simply suffer from "selective hearing," textbook publishers seem to be doing little to help the situation. Only 30 percent of faculty said they felt publishers were providing adequate information regarding format and price options for students.

• Although ebook textbooks have become widely available as part of course materials from most publishers, they have yet to catch on among faculty and students. Only 38 percent of faculty even made available downloadable ebook versions of physical textbooks, and only 4 percent of the students actually downloaded ebooks—this compared to 62 percent purchasing the physical book, 12 percent renting the physical book and 6 percent using/sharing library copies.

In a rare bit of good news for print, of a list of possible course components, 91 percent of polled instructors identified print textbooks as important for their specific courses. The next highest finishers: campus learning management systems like Blackboard (37 percent), e-textbooks (29 percent) and online quizzing (24 percent).

For more from the study, visit bisg.org/publications/product.php?p=25&c=437

—A.S.

Readers are readers are readers

In its April 2012 reading habits survey, Pew Research Center studied the reading habits of news/newspaper readers and magazine/journal readers. Pew found that tablet and e-reader owners are more likely than non-owners to do both types of reading. In addition, those who consider themselves "frequent" book readers are more likely than "infrequent" book readers to also read newspapers and magazines.

Those most likely to read news articles are male, white, over the age of 30, college educated, living in a household earning more than $50,000, and e-reader owners. Not surprisingly, e-reader owners are no more likely than non-owners to be reading magazines and journals. Although many magazines are faithfully reproduced on devices like the iPad and Kindle Fire, people seem slower to embrace digital magazines than they have newspapers and books.

For more from the study, visit libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/ 04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

—A.S.

Why Analytics: Six thoughts on moving from data-rich to insight-rich

At his talk at the Book Industry Study Group's Making Information Pay conference at the McGraw Hill Auditorium, Kyle Marx, VP of Business Analytics at Readerlink Distribution Services, offered six key pointers on wringing good strategy from your data.

1. Transform Data Into Insight: Information is worthless unless you can make good decisions based on it. Know what your data means.

2. You Need a Single Version of the Truth: Keep reporting consistent. Clients who get conflicting numbers are unhappy clients.

3. Manage by Exception: Fire off alerts when there's a problem or an opportunity to capitalize. If you spit out datasets all the time, you can't tell employees what to focus on and they'll end up work on something they shouldn't be working on.

4. Focus on Analysis: Publishers shouldn't need to rely on analysts doing analysis reports. Analysis should be a component of your organization.

5. Real-time Access: Publishing has become a fast-moving world. Insist on having access to data as it happens.

6. Collaboration: Share data with your clients to find new applications and opportunities.

—Brian Howard