Students’ academic reading preferences: An exploratory study

Abstract

The e-book reader revolution is already here. The questions we asked ourselves were: What are the reading preferences of Information Science students at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century? How do different variables, such as relative advantage, comprehension, and learning strategies affect students’ reading preferences? The research was conducted in Israel during the first semester of the 2015 academic year and encompassed 177 Library and Information Science students in an Information Science Department in Israel. Three questionnaires were used: personal details, relative advantage, and learning strategies, and two further questions that focused on reading habits. The study showed students’ preferences for printed materials. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of two personal variables that may affect students’ will to read electronic materials: relative advantage and comprehension.