e-Book And Library Return on Investment (ROI)

 Che Zainab Hj Abdullah & Norliya Ahmad Kassim

Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia

Introduction

Using and providing e-book is complementing the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) like Digital Malaysia. Digital Malaysia is a concept of realising a virtual space of Malaysia, consisting of various geospatial and non-geospatial information which can be connected through e-government initiatives such as Malaysia Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MyGDI). The librarians are now collaborating to the success of Digital Malaysia by providing the 24/7 accessibility to e-resources (e-book, e-journal, and other e-information) in solving the educational resources problem.

Objectives of this paper:

i. To examine the perception on library return on investment ( time saving, cost saving, job commitment and increase in quality) pertaining to e-book.ii. To determine the relationship between library return on investment and e-book

Literature reviewTime SavingStrouse (2003) presented that quantitative measurements for the library's ROI which include time saved by library users; the money users saved by using the library instead of alternative sources; and revenue generated with the assistance of the library. Cost SavingBakeri and Abdoulaye (2002) stated that cost was a prominent ingredient in any acquisition work. Its role becomes more dominant when the acquisition is for e-resources. As libraries develop their collections that not only integrate, but also begin to replace print with electronic resources, libraries must compete not only with the cost of the databases, e-journals, and e-books and other electronic resources that are routinely purchased or licensed but also with the cost of hardware, software, technological innovations and the maintenance of these large files and systems over time.

Literature review (cont...Job CommitmentCommitment is an internal decision which cannot be forced on a person. It occurs when one's thoughts and emotions point in to the same direction (Adio & Popoola, 2010). The job or career commitment of librarians has bearing on the way they carry out their professional duties in the university libraries.Increase in Quality A study in Hong Kong, revealed that faculty members used the e-resources extensively and that this increases their research efficiency as well as increased their productivity and their interdisciplinary and international perspectives. Furthermore, it was found that most respondents accessed at least half of the articles and books they cited in grant proposals, reports, and publications from their institutional library e-resources (Sidorko, 2010).

Methodology

In this study, a set of questionnaire was personally distributed to 150 selected respondents who are dealing with e-book acquisition or handling e-book. The questionnaire was designed on a 1 (strongly disagree) through 7 (strongly agree) Likert scale. A combination of descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing the data from this study. Mean ranking and standard deviation were performed to analyse the descriptive part of the analysis, and the parametric test were used to analyse the relationship between variables.

Results And Discusssion

Perception on Time Saving Means Scores of Perception on Time Saving

Statement Mean Std. Deviation

1. I support e-book because it reduces circulation process 6.25 0.71 2. I support e-book because it eliminates the physical processing

such as packing and unpacking 6.08 1.02

3. I support e-book because it eliminates my shelving time 5.94 1.11 4. I support e-book because it reduces my time in book processing 5.75 1.09 5. I support e-book because it reduces the book processing error 5.65 1.23 6. I support e-book because it reduces my travelling time in

selection work 5.60 1.19

7. I support e-book because it reduces my time in answering calls from vendors

5.28 1.39

Overall 5.79 1.11

Perception on Cost Saving

Means Scores of Perception on Cost Saving

Statement Mean Std. Deviation 1. I support e-book because it reduces labour cost 5.90 1.08 2. I support e-book because it offers low maintenance cost 5.72 1.19 3. I support e-book because it reduces demand on infrastructure 5.69 1.37

Overall 5.77 1.20

Perception on Job Commitment Means Scores of Perception on Job Commitment

Statement Mean Std. Deviation

1. I support e-book because it eliminates number of books being lost 6.07 1.07 2. I support e-book because it provides ease of use 6.06 0.92 3. I would definitely like to see this department improve far more than

it is at the moment 6.05 0.94

4. With e-book services I would accept any kind of job assignment in order to keep myself involved in the department activities

5.96 1.02

5. With e-book services, I am able to talk optimistically about future trend in library.

5.94 1.02

6. With e-book services I am willing to put in extra effort, more than my usual share, to ensure the success of this department.

5.90 0.98

7. With e-book services I am happy to become a member of this department.

5.86 1.02

Overall 5.98 1.14

Perceptions on Increase in Quality Mean Scores of Perceptions of Increase in Quality

Statement Mean Std. Deviation

1. I am happy with e-book because it creates visibility of library resources.

6.02 1.04

2. I am happy with e-book because it provides more accuracy data input.

5.94 1.00

3. I am happy with e-book because the library users become time conscious.

5.82 1.00

4. I am happy with e-book because the library users become more quality conscious

5.78 1.20

5. I am happy with e-book because the library users become more demanding.

5.71 1.18

Overall 5.85 1.08

Relationship between Perceptions on ROI and e-book Correlation between e-Book and ROI

TimeSav CostSav JobSatif QualityInc e-Selection

TimeSave 1

CostSave 0.538** 1

JobSatif 0.765** 0.560** 1

QualityInc 0.722** 0.608** 0.744** 1

e-Book 0.604** 0.398** 0.698** 0.569** 1

It can be seen that e-book as a composite is positively and moderately correlated with time saving

(r=0.604; p<0.01), job satisfaction (r=0.698; p<0.01) and increase in quality (r=0.569; p<0.01). It

is also positively correlated with cost saving, although only weakly (r=0.398; p<0.01).

Conclusion

The present study will absolutely assist all the academicians and librarians to embark on using more e-book as students' references as they already have the tools in their hands. This initiative is aligned with the latest news announced by the Ministry of Education which is considering providing all school students with laptops instead of relying on textbooks. The librarians and parties concerned should realise that the investment in education is a pre-requisite for prosperity of the country and it is also the passport to stability and success of the nation in the future.  

Thank you