A JUSTIFICATION REPORT

IN SUPPORT OF
LIBRARIES SHOULD PROVIDE MORE BOOKS
RATHER THAN INVEST IN NEW TECHNOLOGY SUCH
AS EBOOKS AND E-JOURNALS.
Prepared For:
Board of Directors,
Cemerlang E-Learning Sdn. Bhd
Fifth Floor, No. 77-78, Jalan Maju Jaya,
96000 Sibu,
Sarawak

By:
Ahmad Bin Ali, Librarian
Cemerlang E-Learning Sdn. Bhd,
Ground Floor, No. 77-78, Jalan Maju Jaya,
96000 Sibu,
Sarawak

15th November 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Page

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Definitions
1.2 Formats of traditional books and ebooks
1.3 Background

1.4 Current trends

2.0 Benefits of traditional books

2.1 Comprehension Factor

2.2 Accuracy

2.3 Reading Ease

2.4 Tangible

2.5 Social Connotation and Interaction

2.6 Traditional books cost less for libraries
2.7 Resale Values
4.0 Conclusion

6
7

5.0 References

8-9

1.0 Introduction
Learning is a lifelong process we all go through in our lives. Learning and books are also two
inseparable entities that allow each other to develop. In this day and age, with the technological
advancement and the convenience it brings, E-learning and e-books have become more and more
popular among learners and E-learning also gives the opportunity a lot of people around the
world. For example, learners under Cemerlang E-Learning can save time and money but able to
obtain the same quality education. We also serve corporate companies for staff training. However
efficient an E-learning company is, a library of an E-learning company does not necessarily have
to provide e-books and e-journals to its client learners. This report aims to describe the current
trends parallel with the development of e-books and to justify why libraries should provide more
traditional books rather than invest in new technology such as e-books and e-journals.
1.1 Definitions
According to Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary (2007), a book means a set of pages
that have been fastened together inside a cover to be read or written in. On the other hand, there
are a lot of definitions of ebooks offered by scholars over the years. Henke (2001) defined an
ebook as a hardware device, such as Softbook or Rocket eBook that enables readers to view
content; software applications, such as Acrobat Reader which are used to view content online; or
the content that is viewed by a hardware device or software application. In this report, the term
traditional book and ebook are used. Traditional book is defined as a printed book whereas
the term ebook is defined as a book that is published in electronic form and not printed on
papers.
1.2 Formats of traditional books and ebooks
As traditional books have various printing and binding formats, so do ebooks. Traditional books
can either be in Library Reinforced and Trade Hardcover, paperbacks, mass market paperbacks
and flexibound formats (Mackin Educational Resources, 2015). The Library binding is the best
available binding and has been specially reinforced to last longer. Paperbacks are a publisher's
soft cover bindings whereas mass market paperbacks are for mass-market. Mass-market
paperback is the least durable binding. On the other hand, flexibound are sewn books wrapped in
flexible, turned-edge covers that provide more durability, flexibility and the ability to lie flat.
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E-books are available in a variety of formats, such as Adobe Acrobats Portable Document
Format (PDF), Exe Book, Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), image files, Microsoft
Readers Literature (LIT) and Rich Text Format (RTF), not to mention other formats used in
certain countries such as China and Korea. Despite the variety of e-book formats, the most
popular journal formats are either HTML or PDF (Hitchcock, Carr & Hall, 1997 in Norshuhada,
Landoni, Gibb & Hassan, 2003).
1.3 Background
Book businesses have come a long way since hundreds of years ago. After hundreds of years of
a consistent business model, the process of how authors, publishers, book manufacturers and
retailers profit from the sale of books literally turned upside down starting in the early 1980s (IT
Strategies, 2013 page 4). The first disruption occurred in the 1980s with the creation of mass
book retailers. Local independent retailers could not compete against massive destination stores
with 10 to 20 times more inventories. Their other innovations include in-store cafes and lower
book prices.
The second disruption occurred in the late 1990s. During this decade, the Internet commerce
gained more popularity leading to consumers preference for online retailers and the collapse of
both independent books sellers as well as mass book retailers. The third disruption occurred in
the early 2000s, as digital printing of books fueled the self-publishing industry which channeled
back to the authors and bypassing the publishers altogether. The fourth disruption was the
introduction of e-books. E-books cut out the costs of paper/ink, and more importantly the cost of
inventorying and distribution.
1.4 Current trends
The current trends in books publishing has revealed unexpected turns. According to Bowker
(2014), the global leader in bibliographic information, production of print books by traditional
publishers slowed in the United States in 2013, declining from 309,957 titles in 2012 to a
projected 304,912 titles in 2013. The two percent decrease reverses the sectors growth in 2012
over 2011, but points to a relatively stable market for print works despite competition from
ebooks. The figures were revealed today in Bowkers annual report on U.S. print book
publishing, compiled from its Books In Print database.
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Another study also uncovers surprising results of ebooks and printed books trends. A research
from IT Strategies (2013), a consulting firm and performed in conjunction with the University of
Colorado found that, nearly 70 percent of consumers feel it is unlikely that they will give up on
printed books by 2016. Since 2012, the growth of eBooks has slowed significantly as dedicated
eReader sales are declining, and tablet PC devices are increasingly becoming utilized for other
forms of entertainment. Despite their perceived popularity, 60% of ebooks downloaded are never
read in the US (IT Strategies, 2013).
The latest numbers for 2014 book sales also tell a surprising tale. Nielsen Book Scan, (n.d in
Catalano, 2015) which tracks what readers are buying, found the number of paper books sold
went up 2.4% last year, including at Amazon and all types of bookstores. The 2014 figures are
evidences that traditional printed books are selling better than they have since sales of ebooks
exploded in 2010 (Catalano, 2015).
2.0 Benefits of traditional books
The results in both Bowker (2014) and IT Strategies (2013) suggest that traditional books have
withstanding benefits that encourage the readers choice towards them. Hence, libraries should
provide more traditional books rather than invest in new technology such as e-books and ejournals.
2.1 Comprehension Factor
The first reason why libraries should provide more traditional books is the comprehension factor
especially for learning. Reading for information in learning requires more focus compared to
reading for enjoyment like reading a novel. Therefore it is appropriate to suggest that it is better
to read traditional books compared to e-books for learning. Traditional books enable readers to
highlight and take notes on important points as well as to scribble their thoughts and reflections
on the topics at hand. A study surveyed and conducted a focus group study on students who have
used both e-books and printed books in classes at Ryerson University in Toronto found that the
students also felt that highlighting and otherwise marking passages can be done more effectively
with printed pages than digital ones. More accurately stated, electronic sticky notes, in
particular, do not provide the same memory assistance as the paper sticky note. Students feel that

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they have to remember to purposely search for the electronic sticky note, in contrast to the easily
observable paper sticky note. (Carr, 2013)
Our so called digital natives also felt the same regarding comprehension using ebooks. Azelin,
Abd Mutalib and Muhamad Ridhuan (2012) surveyed 100 primary pupils aged eleven who were
given e-books in schools in Terengganu. They found that among 57% agreed that traditional
books helped them to understand the lessons thought compared to 43% agreed to it using ebooks. When asked whether they preferred the e-books to paper textbooks, the same percentage
of only 43% was recorded preferring the e-books. This means, the remaining 57% preferred the
paper textbooks or traditional books (Azelin, Abd Mutalib & Muhamad Ridhuan, 2012).
2.2 Accuracy
Another reason why libraries should provide more traditional books rather than invest in new
technology such as e-books and e-journals is because learners require accurate factual
information for learning and traditional books are better at giving them that. Traditional books
are harder to alter compared to e-books as they involve a lot of actual processes by credible
individuals for editing, publishing, printing, marketing and so forth. On the other hand, e-books
get changed all the time virtually. As we see more and more titles being catalogued digitally, we
are forced to trust the power of Google and Amazon to keep our literature in its most honest
form. It is common for readers to read poor quality self published e-books with a lot of typos and
inaccurate information. However, this rarely happens to traditional books.
2.3 Reading Ease
Traditional books also give reading ease to learners from all walks of life. There are no devices
needed to read traditional books, no battery required for them to function and no strained eyes
for readers while and after reading. Traditional books are single tasking devices that provide the
best reading experience. There is very little should be done and can be done while reading
traditional books. However, with e-books, readers need to make sure the battery level of the
devices they use to read are enough and they need to stop when their eyes are tired of looking at
the screen. E-book reading devices are also sources of distraction as they could suddenly stop
working (hang) or readers can multitask with it like gaming, browsing or chatting via media
social websites. Hence, traditional books would give reading ease especially to older learners
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with weaker eye coordination, low computer literate learners as well as the easily distracted
learners.
2.4 Tangible
Libraries should also provide traditional books rather than invest in new technology such as ebooks and e-journals because they are tangible. The presence of traditional books in libraries
serves as a reminder of reading importance and the centrality of books in the work of becoming
lifelong learners. They have the ability to be seen forever on the shelves in libraries with other
books. This is further supported by IT Strategies (2013), two of the top three reasons consumers
choose a printed book are the look and feel of paper, and the ability to add it to a library or
bookshelf. The physicality of holding books, touching the papers and flipping through the pages
seems a lot healthier especially to children and elders than reading books from a screen.
2.5 Social Connotation and Interaction
Traditional books hold social connotation and are interactive in some way. Notes and thoughts
are passed from one reader to the other readers. If a traditional book has impacted a reader, the
memories and experiences when rereading the traditional book will definitely give joy to the
reader. According to IT Strategies (2013) that claimed consumers have an emotional and
visceral/sensory attachment to printed books, potentially elevating them to a luxury item. This is
supported by Catalano (2015) who said that for some types of reading, the physical act of
opening a thick cover and listening to the whispered crackle of spine and pages is part of the
enjoyment. The reader who had been impacted could also lend the book to other people or hand
down the book to his or her children as keepsakes. Conversely for ebooks, once you are done
reading it, you usually cannot pass it along to bless someone else.
2.6 Traditional books cost less for libraries
The public is under the assumption that ebooks are cheap because they are cheap for them. They
can go to MPH online, Google Books, Amazon and other ebook retailers buying ebooks at low
prices. However, this is not the same for libraries as publishers are worried that libraries big
collections of free e-books will hurt e-book sales. Our concern is that the more e-lending
becomes available, what would have in the past been a sale becomes a borrow. Over time, that
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would be extremely detrimental to the health of the publishing industry. said Lazarus (2013 in
Scoot, 2013), president of the sales division at Macmillan.
Ebooks are sold at higher prices for libraries and they are many restrictions posed depending on
the publishers. For example, the e-books have to be repurchased after a set number of checkouts
or set amount of time. So libraries would have to buy the same e-book multiple times which is a
problem for libraries on tight budgets. Lets not forget that offering the ebooks solely is not
practical for libraries, they have to provide the e-readers as well. This would definitely increase
libraries spending. The Library Journal (2014 in Mertes, 2015) survey confirms that tablets have
overtaken dedicated e-readers as the device of choice for e-books with Kindle remains the most
popular.
2.7 Resale Values
Traditional books have resale values with textbooks dominating the second hand books market.
If libraries of E-learning companies bought traditional textbooks, during difficult times or when
the learners do not need the textbooks anymore, they can help their E-learning companies by
selling the traditional textbooks as second hand books at cheaper prices. This could not be done
with e-books though. Each e-book can only be owned by one person and it cannot be sold as a
second hand book. The second hand book industry is growing rapidly. For example, the revenue
of Half Price Books, the leading dedicated retailer of second hand books in the United States of
America (USA) alone was $220 million, for the fiscal year ending 30th June 2009 (Rosen, 2010).
In 2002 to2003, college stores earn higher gross margin selling second hand textbooks compared
to new textbooks. New textbook had accounted for 5 billion dollars of total sale and college
bookstores earned average of 22% gross margin on new textbook(Rosen, 2010). On the other
hand, second hand textbook was accounted for 1.8 billion of sale and college bookstores earned
34% gross margin on second hand textbook (Tzu & Yi, n.d). 89% of professors admitted that
only minor or no content is justified for new editions and over 70% of students said that old
edition is just as usable (Tzu & Yi, n.d). Thus, the cost-conscious learners and general readers
will likely try to save their money by buying second hand traditional textbooks especially during
recessions.
4.0 Conclusion
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All in all, there are many reasons why libraries should provide more traditional books is the
comprehension factor especially for learning. Traditional books have the advantages of providing
better comprehension, accuracy, reading ease and resale values. They are tangible, hold social
connotation and cost less for libraries. Libraries are recommended to survey and evaluate which
books to buy for their consumers. It is always wise to make the most of the resources we have
and the budget allocated. For Cemerlang E-Learning library, it is obvious that we need to buy
more of traditional textbooks, dissertations, suitable guidebook to acquire skills and many more
for our students as we want our students to excel. For out of town students, we could courier the
books easily since the courier industry has become more and more efficient these years. We have
spent too much time multi tasking and in front of a screen already. Perhaps we should unplug for
the best reading experience.
2519 words

REFERENCES
Azelin Mohamed Noor, Abd Mutalib Embong, Muhamad Ridhuan Tony Lim Abdullah (2012).
E-Books in Malaysian Primary Schools: The Terengganu Chapter. World Academy of Science,
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Economic and Management Engineering Vol:6, No:6, 2012
Bowker (2014 August 5). Traditional Print Book Production Dipped Slightly in 2013.
Retrieved November 5, 2015 from http://www.bowker.com/news/2014/Traditional-PrintBook-Production-Dipped-Slightly-in-2013.html
Cambridge University Press. (2007). Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary (Third Edition).
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Car, N. (2013, February 20). Students to E-textbooks: No Thanks. Retrieved November 8,
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Catalano, F. (2015). Paper is back: Why real Books are on the Rebound. Retrieved November 9,
2015 from http://www.geekwire.com/2015/paper-back-real-books-rebound/
IT Strategies. (2013). The Evolution of the Book Industry: Implications for US Books
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