Cost-effectiveness analysis of English Textbooks and English Electronic Books Databases of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Subject Areas Including Human Sciences, Social Sciences and Engineering in the Year 2010

In this research, the English written texts and electronic databases year 2010 were investigated through a Cost-Effectiveness analysis in. These books and databases were in the areas including human sciences, social sciences and engineering. 1897 English textbooks which were purchased in 2010 and the English electronic databases were investigated. 320 English textbooks were selected as a sample using stratified random sampling. The sampling was not performed to analyze the English electronic databases. Archival research method and observation with Transaction Reports Analysis were used in order to measure the frequency of utilization and to perform the Cost-Effectiveness analysis. The results indicate that textbooks utilization in technical and engineering areas are more frequent than the utilization in areas relating to human and social sciences. Furthermore, each of the two subject areas uses electronic databases rather than printed books. And finally, the English electronic databases and printed books in technical and engineering areas are more cost-effective than areas including human and social sciences.