Use of Books Study: Online Texts

As part of a major research program, the Libraries are studying scholars' use of books. Please assist in this research by answering these few questions. If you do so, we will give you a chance in our monthly raffle for $50 copycards as a token of our appreciation. Details are at the end of the questionnaire.


  1. What is the title of the book you just used?
  2. Please select the best description of that work or project for which you are using this book:
    If "Other", please specify:
  3. How long ago did you recognize the need to consult this book for this use? Please put the approximate number (of weeks, days, hours, or minutes) in the box to the left and select the appropriate time unit:  
  4. How soon do you expect to make use of what you get from this book? Please put the approximate number (of weeks, days, hours, or minutes) in the box to the left and select the appropriate time unit:   
  5. What did you do with this book on this occasion? (select all applicable uses):
    Looked up something
    Searched for something
    Looked at citations
    Looked at table of contents and/or index
    Looked at introduction and/or conclusions
    Looked at graphics
    Read: less than 10% of book, 10-30% of book, Read over 30% of book
    Other:
  6. Which forms of this book have you ever used ? (Select all that apply by checking the checkboxes in the left column [Used] below)
    If you have used this book in more than one way, which one do you prefer overall ? (Select one of the "radio" buttons in the right column [Prefer] below)
    Used Prefer Form
    Online copy in library
    Online copy elsewhere
    Printout from online copy
    Download from online
    Library's paper copy
    My own paper copy
    A colleague's paper copy
    Photocopy from paper copy
    CD-ROM
  7. Referring to the way of using this book that you prefer, why do you like it best? (select all that apply)
    Less costly
    Easy to get to
    Easy to read
    Always available
    Easy to search
    Easy to copy
    Easy to take notes/annotate
    Other reasons:
  8. On how many occasions (including this one) have you used this book in any format during the last 3 months?   times.
  9. For approximately how many minutes in total have you used this book during the last 3 months?   minutes.
  10. About how many times in the last 12 months have you used an online book, i.e. a monograph or reference book available on CNet or another computer network? times.
  11. In the type of work you are doing now, do you find that paper books or online books help you to be more productive?
  12. Do you find that you are able to produce results of higher quality when you use paper books or online books?
  13. Is there a computer attached to the campus network (by modem or direct link) that you can use whenever you want? Yes  No
  14. About how many hours per week do you spend in each of the following online activities?
    Email: Listservs&Newsgroups: CLIO-Plus:
    Text/Image/Numeric Data Sources on WWW: Other WWW:
  15. What is your present primary relationship to Columbia?
    If "Other", please specify:
  16. What is your primary discipline?
    If "Other", please specify:
  17. Your comments about your experience and preferences in using various book formats are appreciated:
  18. If you are willing to participate in a brief telephone interview about your use of this book, please provide the following information:
    Name: Email:
    Phone#: Best time to call:

    Thank you for assisting with this important research effort.

    Enter your email address here if you wish to participate in our monthly raffle for $50 copycards. If you are a winner, we will notify you on the second Tuesday of the month.