Library Users' Habits and Preferences Toward Electronic Resources and Reading Practices: A Review

Abstract

Digital technology is changing the ways in which library users discover, access, and interact with information resources. In addition to the traditional print collections, electronic books, journals, databases and mobile reading platforms now occupy space, leading to ongoing attention to patron habits and preferences across these various formats. This paper briefly summarizes the results of research literature on library user habits and preferences for e-resources and reading from print to digital, and mobile and device-based reading habits. Commonalities and recurring themes of the review include: convenience and speed are primary motivators for adoption of e-resources; user awareness and information-literacy training remain a challenge; format preferences are still different by discipline, seniority and type of information task; and continued evidence of preference for sustained comprehension tasks in print. A conceptual framework is presented which categorizes the determinants of user behaviour into four factors: user-related, resource-related, technological and institutional. Implications for academic library service design and directions for future research is the concluding section of the paper.