Comparison between Paper Books and Electronic Books in the Reading to Answer Questions

Abstract

This paper describes two experiments comparing reading performance such as reading speed and the accuracy of tasks in reading to answer questions using different document media : a paper book, a desktop PC, and a tablet device. In the first experiment, 20 participants searched answers from a text manual. As a result, participants performed the task fastest when using a paper book. In the second experiment, 24 participants searched given photographs from photo books. In the initial stage of the trials, the use of the desktop PC was faster than the use of the paper books. However, the use of paper books became faster when participants got accustomed to contents of the books. In both experiments, participants' approach of page access was bold and flexible when using paper books. Additionally, the use of the tablet device took time to search information because of the difficulty of rapid page access. From these results, we provide suggestions for improving page access in electronic books by consulting with rapid and flexible page access with paper books.