Usage of Electronic Books: A Study of ebrary Database in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an analysis of usage reports of ebrary database. The five indicators(pages viewed, pages copied, pages printed, unique documents usage, and user sessions) were identifiedto determine the extend of ebrary usage by 18 government and private institutions in the UAE based on theircounter reports. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows significant difference in the average of theseindicators among the 18 institutions in the UAE. Results of the study indicate that governments' institutionsoutperformed private institutions in all these indicators and the T-test confirmed the same. In general, the studyfound ebrary use is relatively low and there was no annual growth in both government and private institutions.The study found that a large number of surveyed institutions do not fully utilise ebrary services as expected.There is a need for aggressively promotion about the use of electronic resources among the faculty membersand students through appropriate training, workshops and marketing activities in all these institutions.

doi: 10.14429/djlit.32.2.1590