I - 9     Are They Ready to Make the Switch? Results of the WSU Libraries Survey on Electronic and Print Collections

Cathy Moore-Jansen (cathy.moore-jansen@wichita.edu) Wichita State University Libraries, Wichita, KS Judith Wolfe (judith.wolfe@unlnotes.unl.edu), Unoversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

A recent survey of Wichita State University faculty, staff, and students by the WSU Libraries shows the university community far from consensus on the issue of print versus electronic journals and other resources. The survey, made available to the entire campus via the Web, provides an in-depth look at the importance of materials in different formats, how print and electronic journals are located and used, the interest in alternative delivery methods, and the level of support for canceling subscriptions or buying fewer books to maintain or add electronic access. The responses from 381 users have been analyzed using statistical software and point to striking differences and similarities in format preferences and use – not just among students and faculty, but among different disciplines. Survey data was used by departmental and library faculty during the last serials cancellation project and by the library in deciding to add an unmediated document delivery service for faculty and staff. A Web page of survey results is under development. The survey will be conducted on a biannually to track changes in preference and usage patterns and to facilitate more informed decisions about print and electronic journal subscriptions. The survey instrument and results, research methodology, and extensive bibliography are presented.

Poster Session Presented at the 2005 ALA National Conference

Introduction

In May 2003, the Department of Collection Development of WSU Libraries conducted a survey of WSU faculty, staff, and students on the relative importance of print and electronic access to journals and other resources as well as to gather information on how these user groups access and use electronic resources. The results of that survey are presented at http://library.wichita.edu/colldev/onlinesurvey2003/index.htm and were used to help guide the assessment of print and electronic needs and the acquisition of information resources for the WSU community.

Web Sitehttp://library.wichita.edu/colldev/onlinesurvey2003

Methodology

The Department of Collection Development conducted a Survey on Electronic and Print Collections in March 2003. Two similar online survey instruments were created in FrontPage: 1) Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Assistant survey and 2) Student survey.  Links to both survey forms were posted on the WSU Libraries' main home page. A PDF and an HTML version of each form were available to users. Signs were placed at all workstations in the library and emails were sent to all faculty and staff encouraging participation. When respondents submitted the online survey forms, the responses were automatically posted to a text-file in FrontPage and to an email message to the departmental Administrative Specialist. The text file was converted to an Excel spreadsheet and the data sorted and distributed to subject librarians for use during the 2003 journals cancellation project.  In the fall of 2004, the survey data was uploaded into SPSS 12.0 for Windows for more in-depth analysis. The resultant tables and figures were copied into FrontPage and a Web page created for the survey results.

•Online survey conducted by Dept. of Collection Development in March 2003•Survey instruments posted to Library’s Web site•Responses automatically posted to text-file in FrontPage•Survey data uploaded into SPSS 12.0 for Windows for analysis of frequencies and cross-tabulations•Survey results posted to Web site•Follow-up online survey to be conducted in Fall 2005 http://library.wichita.edu/colldev/onlinesurvey2003/combinedsurvey.htm

General ConclusionsAre WSU faculty, staff, and students ready to make the switch from print to electronic journals and books? The results of the survey indicate strong support for both print and online journals and print books, less for electronic books, among all user groups. Survey results varied depending on the type of material under consideration as well as the academic status and/or subject major or specialty of the respondents. Users in some disciplines were more ready than others to make the switch from print to electronic. There were also relatively high numbers of “undecided” responses to several questions, e.g. support for reducing book budgets to support electronic access. These differences indicate that any “switching” to electronic format should be “localized” according to discipline and take into account the varying needs of different constituents. It is clear that the WSU community is not ready for a blanket “switch” to electronic. Future surveys may point to a different conclusion, as there is increasing availability of electronic books and journals and the use of electronic materials by faculty, staff, and students.

•At the time of the survey, the WSU community was not ready for a blanket “switch’ to electronic access. Support for print – both journals and books -- was strong among all user groups although users in some disciplines were more ready than others to make the switch. Any “switching” to electronic format should be “localized” according to discipline and user group.•The relatively high number of “undecided” responses to several questions indicates that many users were unwilling to commit one way or the other. An effort should be made in future surveys to solicit input that might shed light on “undecided” responses.•A follow-up survey is recommended to track any changes in preferences regarding electronic and print resources among user groups. A larger sample will be needed – especially students -- to better assess the significance of the results.

Recommendations

It is the recommendation of the team to conduct a semiannual survey to solicit library client input on the relative importance of print and electronic access to journals and other resources as well as to gather information on how these user groups access and use electronic resources. The results of the survey could then be used to help guide the future assessment of print and electronic needs and ultimately the acquisition of information resources for the WSU community.

•Raw data from the survey was distributed to academic departments during the most recent serials cancellation project.•Survey data has been used to help support decisions by some departments to switch journal packages and individual titles from print to online only and/or to reduce book budgets to cover print subscriptions.•With support from survey results, the WSU Libraries recently implemented Infotrieve, an unmediated document delivery service, for faculty.•Results from this and future surveys will help assess the ongoing relevance and need for print and electronic collections and provide valuable information on how users locate and use those collections.

Importance of Print & Electronic Journals

Overall, the importance of print journals was rated nearly as high as that of e-journals. Responses varied by academic status and subject division, e.g. graduate students were the strongest supporters of e-journals; support for print journals was much stronger among Humanities faculty than among Engineering faculty.

Importance of Print & Electronic Books

Respondents clearly rated print books as more important than e-books. Responses varied by academic status and subject division, e.g. undergraduates were the strongest supporters of both print and electronic books; among faculty, the highest ratings for print books were in the Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

Canceling Print to Support Electronic Access

Just over 50% of all respondents were in favor of canceling print to maintain or add electronic access. Responses varied by academic status and subject division, e.g. staff were more supportive and undergraduates less supportive of canceling print; Engineering faculty were nearly unanimous in support for canceling print while the highest %s of “undecided” responses were among Business, Fine Arts and Humanities faculty.

Reducing Book Budget to Fund Journals

Overall, there was less support for reducing book budgets to fund journals than there was for canceling print journals to fund electronic access. “Yes” and “no” responses were almost evenly split with a relatively high number of “undecided” respondents. Responses varied by academic status and subject division, e.g. most undergraduates as well as Fine Arts and Humanities faculty did not support reducing book budgets; faculty in Engineering and the Social Sciences were more likely to be “undecided” than other faculty.

Choosing Print or Online Only

Nearly three-quarters of all respondents would select “online only” access to journals if they had to choose due to limited funding. Responses varied less by academic status and more by subject division, e.g. 100% of Engineering faculty would opt for online while the majority of faculty in only two areas – Fine Arts and Humanities – would opt for print rather than online only.

Using E-Journals

Citations in online databases and cited references were the most frequent methods for locating articles in print journals. Responses varied by academic status and subject division, e.g. faculty were more frequent users of cited references than students and staff who both preferred online databases; faculty were also more likely to use personal subscriptions (esp. in Business and Health Professions) or browse current periodical issues (esp. in the Humanities.)

Interest in Desktop Delivery

Just over half of the respondents indicated they used e-journals to search for specific articles. Fewer respondents searched by specific subjects/authors, scanned TOCs or latest issues, and very few read preprints or used alert services. Responses varied by academic status and subject division, e.g. graduate students were more likely to search for specific articles; all students were more likely to search by specific subjects or authors than faculty and staff; a higher % of Engineering faculty scanned latest issues and TOCs than other faculty.

Locating Articles in Print Journals

A high percentage of all respondents were interested in desktop delivery of ILL materials in PDF format. Responses varied by academic status and subject division, e.g. undergraduates and staff were more likely to be “undecided”; a preference for desktop delivery was particularly strong among faculty in Engineering, Sciences, and Social Sciences.

Survey Demographics I

http://library.wichita.edu/colldev/onlinesurvey2003/demographics.htm

TABLE 1.  University Faculty, Student, and Staff Demographics, 2003

TABLE 2.  General Academic Status of Survey Respondents 

TABLE 3.  Specific Academic Status of Survey Respondents 

TABLE 4.  Survey Respondents by Subject Division   

Definitions

Academic Status Other DefinedAcademic Status, Other may be defined as individuals associated with Wichita State University, who are not faculty, student, or staff. There are six respondents with the status other. The respondents’ department affiliation includes: Biological Sciences, Ceramics, Chemistry, Field Major, General Education, and Women’s Studies. Question 6 Finding Articles Other Defined28 respondents selected other as a method of finding articles. The responses are divided into eight groups, which may be defined as: searching an aggregator/database (10), recommendations (7), TOC (4), bibliographies (2), index (2), WWW (1), other libraries (1), and not used (1). Question 10 Access Method Other DefinedOf the 13 responses downloading or printing of pdfs or article was the number one response. Responses also included: cited references, keywords, reading the article, and locating specific topic.

Selected Bibliography

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Belefant-Miller, H. & King, D. W. (2001). How, what, and why science faculty read. Science and Technology Libraries, 19 (2), 91-112.

Berger, K. & Hines, R. (1994). What does the user really want? The Library User Survey Project at Duke University. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 20 (5-6), 306-309.

Black, S. (2005). Impact of full text on print journal use at a liberal arts college. Library Resources & Technical Services, 49 (1), 19-26.

Bombeld, M., Brown, E. & Shay, L. (2004). Developing and administering a journal use and preference survey: Lessons learned. Serials Review, 30 (3), 206-213.

Boyce, P., King, D. Montgomery,C., & Tenopir, C. (2003) Library economic metrics: Examples of the comparison of electronic and print. Journal Collections and Collection Services, 51 (3), 376-400.

Brown, C. M. (1999). Information seeking behavior of scientists in the electronic information age: Astronomers, chemists, mathematicians, and physicists. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50 (10), 929-943.

Chrzastowski, T. E. (2004). Rejoinder: Transition from print to electronic serials. (Letters to the editor). Journal of the American Society for Information science and Technology, 55 (4), 370-371.

Chrzastowski, T. E. (2003). Making the transition from print to electronic serial collections: A new model for academic chemistry libraries? Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.  54 (12), 1141-1148.

Cochenour, D. & Moothart, T. (2003) E-journal acceptance at Colorado State University: A case study. Serials Review, 29 (1), 16-25.

Davis, P. M. (2004). Transfer from print to electronic serials. (Letters to the editor). Journal of the American Society for Information science and Technology, 55 (4), 369-370.

Dess, H. M. (1997). Gauging faculty utilization of science Journals: A defensive strategy for a lean budget era. Chemical Librarianship: Challenges and Opportunities, 16 3/4), 171-190.

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science faculty at the University of Michigan Results of a Survey Conducted July-September, 2000. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Spring. [On-line serial). Available: http://www.istl.org/02-spring/refereed.html.

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Compiled by Cathy Moore-Jansen, Wichita State University and Judith Wolfe, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, June 2005