---
title: "Few students likely to use print books for research"
description: "Only 12% of teachers say their students are \"very likely\" to use printed books in a research assignment."
date: "2013-07-30"
authors:
  - name: "Drew DeSilver"
    job_title: "Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/drew-desilver/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/07/30/few-students-likely-to-use-print-books-for-research/"
categories:
  - "Comparison of Generations"
  - "Education"
  - "Education & Learning Online"
  - "Education & Learning Online"
  - "K-12"
---

# Few students likely to use print books for research

Was it really that long ago when students began their research papers by hitting the library stacks?

Apparently so. In [a 2012 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2012/11/01/how-teens-do-research-in-the-digital-world/) of almost 2,500 middle- and high-school teachers, just 12% said their students were "very likely" to use printed books (other than textbooks) in a typical research assignment -- just behind the 16% who said their students would be very likely to consult research librarians.

![](http://pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/internet/Reports/2012/Student-Research/Main-Report/~/media/C5844BA7E7054058BFBA218FA5128907.jpg?w=522&h=599&as=1)

The most-likely research resource for today's students? No surprises: Google (which 94% of teachers said their students were "very likely" to use) and Wikipedia (75%), followed by YouTube, social-media sites and fellow students.

The survey results echo teachers' perceptions that their students' research methods are shallower than those of prior generations -- using search engines and readily available references like Wikipedia to quickly locate just enough information to complete an assignment. As one teacher quoted in the report put it: "Students see the internet as a cool place where they can get quick information. They don't know how to use it properly. I am not sure there are adults that know how to use it properly."