Awareness, use and attitudes of students towards e-books: differences based on gender, discipline and degree level

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the level of awareness, use and attitudes of students regarding e-books. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative research design based on the survey method. A structured questionnaire was designed and used for data collection from four different universities of Pakistan. A total of 305 responses were collected from a sample of 400, and 303 of those responses were used for data analysis. Findings The results of this study indicated that students were aware of e-books and used them in their daily lives. Most of the respondents had a positive attitude towards e-books and indicated that they considered e-books are easy to find and support them in their assignments. Online features of e-books were important to them. There was a significant difference of opinion found among students of different disciplines regarding the use of e-books. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to four disciplines in four universities, one discipline per university. Therefore, its findings may not be applied to other universities or other disciplines. Practical implications This paper offers a new idea to academic libraries related to purchasing e-books. This study will provide guidelines to information professionals for development of their e-book collection and implementation of innovative approaches in library services or e-books services to facilitate their users according to their need. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on the level of awareness, use and attitudes of university students towards e-books in Pakistan.