HOW ELECTRONIC JOURNALS ARE CHANGING ENGINEERS’ INFORMATION SEEKING & READING PATTERNS Donald W. King University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences.

HOW ELECTRONIC JOURNALS ARE CHANGING ENGINEERS’

INFORMATION SEEKING & READING PATTERNS

Donald W. King

University of Pittsburgh

School of Information Sciences

Carol Tenopir

University of Tennessee

School of Information Sciences

American Society for Engineering Education

Conference

Salt Lake City, Utah

June 21, 2004

Background

• Over 50 readership surveys (1974-2003)– About 25,000 survey responses (some include

authorship)

– NSF (2 national surveys - 1977, 1984)

– Journals (e.g., Science)

– Societies (e.g., American Astronomical Society)

– Universities (e.g., Drexel, Tennessee, Pittsburgh)

– Elsewhere (e.g., NIH, Bell Labs, ORNL)

(cont’d)

Background (cont’d)

• Library cost and use studies (26 special, 30 academic libraries)

• Publishing– Cost model (1977, 1995)– Financial aspects– Tracked science journal characteristics (1960-2002)

• Consortia– Census (1986)– Analysis (2002)

• Copyright (1978, 1983, 1985, 1989)

Engineers’ Information Seeking & Reading Patterns

• How much do they read?

• Where readers obtain articles that are read?

• What format do readers use?

• How do readers learn about articles?

• Trends are revealing

Amount of Journal Reading

• Varies by profession– Medical professionals: 246 readings per year– Engineers: 106 readings per year

• Varies by where readers work– University engineers: 186 readings per year– Non-university engineers : 98 readings per year

• About 75% of articles authored by university engineers

• About 75% of all readings are by non–university engineers

How Do Engineers Learn About Articles?

Reading per Person

% No.

Browse 47 50

Online Search 11 12

Citations in publications 16 17

Someone told reader 27 27

101 106

Where Do Engineers Obtain Articles?

Reading per Person

% No.

Personal subscriptions 32 34

Library collections 50 53

From another person 11 11

Author Websites 1 1

Free Web journal 6 6

Preprint 1 1

101 106

Age is Important

Source: ORNL (2001), University of Tennessee (2000), Drexel University (2002), University of Pittsburgh (2003)

Source of Article 1,2 Years 3-5 Years Over 5 Years

Library 40.0 42.9 73.3

Personal 37.1 21.4 9.2

Separate 22.9 35.7 17.5

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Format by Source

• Personal Subscriptions– 93% of subscriptions in print– 90% of reading in print

• Library Collections– 80% of reading electronic– Saves readers about 20 hours per year

Trends in Engineers’ Reading Patterns

• They appear to be reading more

• They rely on libraries more

• Reasons for increased library use

Fig 2 - Average No. of Articles Read per Scientist

Year and Study

150172

188216

0

50

100

150

200

250

1977 1984 1993 2000 - 03(National Survey, n=2,350)

(National Survey, n=865)

(U of TN, n=89) (TN, Drexel & Pittsburgh, n=300)

Fig 3 - Source of Additional Readings

3752

92101

113 120

96

115

020406080

100120140

1977 1984 1993 2000 - 03

Library Collection Other Sources

Sci

entis

t R

eadi

ng p

er Y

ear

Engineer Trends in Journal Use

1977 Current Change

Reading 80 106 +26

Reading from Libraries 5 53 +48

Reading from Personal Subscriptions 66 34 -32

Reading from Online Searching __ 12 +12

Reading Cited Articles 13 17 +4

Electronic Collection Contribution

• Personal Subscriptions - 90% print• Library collections -

– 80% electronic– Broadens journal availability– Saves readers about 20 hours per year

• Breadth of reading has increased– Read from about 13 journals in 1977– Over twice that amount now

• Age of article is a factor

Breadth of Reading Increased

• Drexel as an example

• Reading– Read from about 13 journals in 1977– Over twice that amount now

Factors Affecting Decisions

• Purpose of use• Cost in reader time• Ease of use• Importance of and satisfaction with journal/service

attributes• Awareness of journals/services and their attributes• Availability of alternative sources of information

Library Contribution to Usefulness and Value

• Purpose of use

• Importance in achieving principal purposes

• Ways article affected the principal purpose

• How much do readers “pay” for the article?

• Achievers read more from library collections

• Readers are more productive than non-readers

• Helps achieve parent organization goals

ReferencesKing, D.W., C. Tenopir. “Towards Electronic Journals: Realities for Scientists, Librarians, and Publishers”. Washington, D.C.:

Special Libraries Association, 2000.

King, D.W., C. Tenopir. Communication by Engineers. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley & Sons, 2004.

King, D.W. “Some Thoughts on Academic Library Collections” Guest Editorial. Journal of Academic Librarianship. Due out July

2004.

King, D.W., Aerni, S., Brody, F., Herbison, M., Knapp, A. “The Use and Outcomes of University Library Print and Electronic

Collections”. April 2004. http://purl.oclc.org/sfipitt/pub20040405b

Tenopir, C., King, D.W., Boyce, P. Grayson, M., Zhang, Y., Ebuen, M. “Patterns of Journal Use by Scientists through Three

Evolutionary Phases”. D-Lib Magazine. May 2003. Vol. 9. No. 5

King, D.W., C. Tenopir. “Patterns of Journal Use by Faculty at Three Diverse Universities”. D-Lib Magazine. Oct. 2003. Vol. 9. No.

10

King, D.W. and C.H. Montgomery. “After Migration to an Electronic Journal Collection”. D-Lib Magazine. Dec. 2002. Vol. 8. No.

12