Abstract: Various electron spectroscopy techniques are widely used both in basic research and in applied analysis of materials. Metal oxides including oxide films have attracted great interest due to their special physical and chemical properties for use in many areas including the information industry, energy sources, and so on. For instance, due to their special dielectric and optical properties oxide films are very important materials used in gas sensors. In this review I show some examples of applications of various types of electron spectroscopy，including X-ray photoelectron, Auger electron, ultraviolet photoelectron and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, as well as low energy electron diffraction techniques in oxide film preparation and characterization.