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Title: Z-Library Helps Students to Overcome Academic Poverty, Study Finds

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/11/21/00142...

A new study reveals that many users, particularly students and Redditors,
view Z-Library as a vital resource for overcoming economic barriers to
education, reflecting a "Robin Hood" mentality that prioritizes access to
knowledge over copyright concerns. TorrentFreak reports: The research looks
at the motivations of two groups; Reddit users and Chinese postgraduate
students. Despite the vast differences between these groups, their views on Z-
Library are quite similar. The 134 Reddit responses were sampled from the
Zlibrary subreddit, which is obviously biased in favor of the site. However,
the reasoning goes well beyond a simple "I want free stuff" arguments. Many
commenters highlighted that they were drawn to the site out of poverty, for
example, or they highlighted that Z-Library was an essential tool to fulfill
their academic goals. "Living in a 3rd world country, 1 book would cost like
50%- 80% already of my daily wage," one Redditor wrote. The idea that Z-
Library is a 'necessary evil' was also highlighted by other commenters. This
includes a student who can barely make ends meet, and a homeless person, who
has neither the money nor the space for physical books. The lack of free
access to all study materials, including academic journal subscriptions at
university libraries, was also a key motivator. Paired with the notion that
journal publishers make billions of dollars, without compensating authors,
justification is found for 'pirate' alternatives. "They make massive profits.
So stealing from them doesn't hurt the authors nor reviewers, just the rich
greedy publishers who make millions just to design a cover and click
'publish'," one Redditor wrote. The second part of the study is conducted in
a more structured format among 103 postgraduate students in China. This group
joined a seminar where Z-Library and the crackdown were discussed. In
addition, the students participated in follow-up focus group discussions,
while also completing a survey. Despite not all being users of the shadow
library, 41% of the students agreed that the site's (temporary) shutdown
affected their ability to study and find resources for degree learning. In
general, the students have a favorable view toward Z-Library and similar
sites, and 71% admit that they have used a shadow library in the past. In
line with China's socialist values, the overwhelming majority of the students
agreed that access to knowledge should be free for everyone. While the
students are aware of copyright law, they believe that the need to access
knowledge outweighs rightsholders' concerns. This is also reflected in the
following responses, among others. All in all, Z-Library and other shadow
libraries are seen as a viable option for expensive or inaccessible books,
despite potential copyright concerns. The paper has been published in the
Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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