{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T08:23:05Z","timestamp":1775636585794,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,7]],"date-time":"2016-11-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1478476800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EL"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to compare the usage patterns of e-books among the students of social, agricultural, and engineering sciences; demonstrate how e-books are used by students for various purposes; explore the main reasons for using e-books; and uncover the major issues being encountered by students while using e-books in Pakistani Universities.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>During May to July 2014, a convenient sample technique was adopted, and a close-ended questionnaire was used as a survey tool for 300 graduates (BSc honor) and postgraduate (masters and MS) students in the age group of 21-60 years. In this study, the respondents\u2019 gender, age, educational level and major disciplines were individual contextual variables. The data collection process was successfully completed with a 100 per cent response rate. SPSS-19 was utilized for testing the reliability of the instrument, as well as descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The results show that the adoption of e-books has reached a level where they have become an integral component of academic library services. The results of this study verify the previous findings that the students are relying on e-book adoption for various academic and research purposes. Comparatively, male students, postgraduate students and those between the ages of 21 and 40 years are more frequently e-book users. In addition, the percentage of e-book readership among engineering students on a \u201cdaily basis\u201d is greater than the students of agricultural and social sciences. They prefer reading e-books because of the following reasons: to support research endeavors and improve academic performance; and the e-format is quick to read and easy to manage. Insufficient e-contents, lack of personal computers and the variety of e-book formats are the major constraints in the effective utilization of e-books for learning, education and research needs. The study has concluded that e-books have a key role in the set-up of academic libraries and information resources in Pakistan, though further development of e-book readership capabilities and building of e-book collections are required to support users\u2019 needs, and a parallel investigation into their most effective usage is also required.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This empirical research is a first and unique study that systematically and quantitatively compares the relationship between respondents\u2019 e-books usage with their individual contextual variables in the perspective of academic libraries in Pakistan.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/el-08-2015-0163","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,12,9]],"date-time":"2016-12-09T09:07:17Z","timestamp":1481274437000},"page":"958-973","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["E-books usage by agricultural, engineering and social science students in selected universities of Pakistan"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"34","author":[{"given":"Amjid","family":"Khan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rubina","family":"Bhatti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Asad","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"8","key":"key2020121101273994000_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"593","DOI":"10.1108\/00242530810899577","article-title":"Students\u2019 attitudes towards e-books in a Scottish higher education institute: part 1","volume":"57","year":"2008","journal-title":"Library Review"},{"key":"key2020121101273994000_ref002","unstructured":"Adegbore, A.M. 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