The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be

UKSG Conference 2004 and Exhibition

Manchester, UK

29 March 2004

22

Mission

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of the advances in information technology. This includes: (1) building a reliable and comprehensive archive of core scholarly journals, and (2) dramatically improving access to this scholarly material.

In pursuing its mission, JSTOR takes a system-wide perspective, seeking benefits for libraries, publishers and scholars

33

Faculty Survey

Faculty only – This was not a survey of graduate students or undergraduate students.– How might student (or librarian) responses vary from

the responses of faculty? US only – We were unable to include faculty

from other countries – How might responses from UK faculty differ from the

US-specific findings?

Colleges and universities that grant the Bachelor’s Degree or higher – We did not include community colleges.

[Surveys] are like bikinis. What they reveal is interesting, but what they conceal is essential - Kenneth Boulding

44

Disciplines Included

Area Studies– African Studies, African-American Studies, American Studies, Asian

Studies, India Studies, Latin American Studies, Middle East Studies, Slavic Studies

Humanities– Classical Studies, History of Art, History or History of Science,

Languages, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Theater and Drama

Social Sciences

– Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture, Business or Finance, Economics, Education, Law, Political Science, Population or Demography, Psychology, Sociology

Sciences– Biology, Botany, or Ecology, Geography, Mathematics or Statistics,

Physical Sciences, Public Health or Epidemiology

55

Mailing and Response

Within these disciplines, a list of all faculty was created.

Sample was chosen by random selection from this list.

44,060 professors were sent a questionnaire (as compared with 32,670 in 2000).

Total of 7,403 completed surveys received (as compared with 4,220 in 2000).

Overall response rate of 16.8% (as compared with 13% in 2000)

Information Resources in General:

The Role of the Library

77

Starting Point for Research

Below are four possible starting points for academic research. Typically, when you are conducting academic research, which of these four starting points do you use to begin locating information for your research?

1.The library building2.A general-purpose search engine on the Internet or

World Wide Web, such as Yahoo or Google3.Your online library catalog4.A specific electronic research resource or computer

database

88

The Google-Effect on Faculty?

14%

28%

21%

37%

The librarybuilding

Your online librarycatalog

A general-purposesearch enginesuch as Google

A specificelectronicresearch resource

99

Starting Point for Research

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

The librarybuilding

Your onlinelibrary catalog

A general-purpose searchengine such as

Google

A specificelectronicresearchresource

Area Studies

Humanities

SocialSciencesSciences

1010

Value of Library Functions

“How important is it to you that your library provides each of the following functions?”

The library is a starting point or “gateway” for locating information for my research.

The library pays for resources I need, from academic journals to books to electronic databases.

The library is a repository of resources – in other words, it archives, preserves, and keeps track of resources.

1111

Library Functions Valued by Faculty

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Gateway Archive Buyer

20002003

“How important is it to you that your library provides each of the following functions?”

Percent rating each function as ‘very important’

1212

Library Functions Valued by Faculty

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Gateway Archive Buyer

CurrentPerception,in 2000

Expectationfor FiveYears Hence,in 2000

CurrentPerception,in 2003

“How important is it to you that your library provides each of the following functions?”Percent rating each function as ‘very important’

1313

Library Functions Valued by Faculty

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Gateway Archive Buyer

CurrentPerception, in2000

CurrentPerception, in2003

Expectation forFive YearsHence, in 2003

“How important is it to you that your library provides each of the following functions?”

Percent rating each function as ‘very important’

1414

Differences by Discipline Grouping

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Area studies Humanities Social Sciences Sciences

GatewayArchiveBuyer

“How important is it to you that your library provides each of the following functions?”

Percent rating each function as ‘very important’

1515

Dependence on Your Library

“How dependent would you say you are on your college or university library for the research you conduct”

1616

Dependence Varies by Institution Size

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

VerySmall

Small Medium Large VeryLarge

Not verydependentSomewhatdependent

Verydependent

Degree of dependence on your college or university library for your research

1717

But Relatively Little By Discipline

Degree of dependence on your college or university library for your research

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

AreaStudies

Humanities SocialSciences

Sciences

Not verydependentSomewhatdependent

Verydependent

1818

Degree of Dependence: 2000 vs. 2003

The future will be like the past, because in the past, the future was like the past

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2003

Not verydependentSomewhatdependent

Verydependent

1919

And Is Expected to Continue to Decrease

Degree of dependence on your college or university library for your research

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Today Five Years fromToday

Not verydependentSomewhatdependent

Verydependent

Information Resources in General:

Hard-Copy Collections

2121

Hard-Copy Collections Are Not Expected To Gain In Popularity

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2003

Not WellSomewhatVery Well

“The act of searching through hard-copy collections is much too time-consuming and onerous. I would welcome access to new tools”

2222

Huh?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2003

Not WellSomewhatVery Well

“A substantial problem for me is that journal articles that I need are sometimes not available

at my university or in my locale and I have to get them from another source”

2323

Perhaps Because of Hard-Copy Cancellations?

Yes

No

Don't Know / NoAnswer

“In the past 2 years, has your college or university library cancelled its subscription

to the print version of any journal in which you are interested?”

Information Resources in General:

Electronic Resources

2525

Usage of E-resources Varies Significantly By Discipline

0

50

100

150

200

250

Area Studies Humanities SocialSciences

Sciences

Number of times you have used computer-based electronic resources in the past year

2626

Even Within the Humanities

Number of times you have used computer-based electronic resources in the past year

0

50

100

150

200

250

Art History Philosophy History Literature

2727

Electronic Resources Have Gained in Importance

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2003

Not WellSomewhatVery Well

“Electronic research resources are invaluable research tools”

2828

And Dependence is Expected to Increase

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2003

Not WellSomewhatVery Well

I will become increasingly dependent on electronic research resources in the future

Electronic Archiving

3030

Archiving

“Preserving and protecting access to a collection of scholarly literature in perpetuity, without regard for how frequently or infrequently these materials are being read.”

3131

Importance of Archiving is Widely Recognized

84%

14%2%

ExtremelyImportant

SomewhatImportant

Not Important

3232

Electronic Archiving is Growing in Importance

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2003

Not Well

SomewhatWellVery Well

“With more and more journals becoming available electronically, it is crucial that libraries, publishers, or electronic databases archive, catalog,

and protect these electronic journals.”

3333

Electronic Archiving is Growing in Importance

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Today Five Years from Today

NotImportant

SomewhatImportant

VeryImportant

Importance of Long-Term Preservation of Electronic Journals

3434

Those Who Don’t Know and Those Who Don’t Know

They Don’t Know

Don't Know / No Answer

14%Very Satisfied

23%

Not Satisfied7%

Somewhat Satisfied

56%

Satisfaction With The Way Electronic Journals Are Being Preserved For The Long Term

Shelf Space and Paper Repositories

3636

Paper Repositories are Clearly Desired

“Regardless of How Reliable and Safe Electronic Collections of Journals May Be, It Will Always Be Crucial for Some Libraries to Maintain Hard-Copy Collections of Journals”

67%

19%

10%4%

ExtremelyWell

SomewhatVeryNot at allWell

Don't Know

3737

But Local Solutions May Be Needed As Well

“Regardless of How Reliable and Safe Electronic Collections of Journals May Be, It Will Always Be Crucial for My Library to Maintain Hard-Copy Collections of Journals”

48%

30%

18%

4%

ExtremelyWell

SomewhatVeryNot at allWell

Don't Know

3838

Value Varies By Discipline

Regardless of How Reliable and Safe Electronic Collections of Journals May Be, It Will Always Be Crucial that Hard-Copy Collections of Journals Be Maintained by …

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Area Studies Humanities SocialSciences

Sciences

MyLibrary

SomeLibraries

Conclusions

4040

Conclusions: Access to Resources

Electronic resources continue to be important to faculty.

Scientists use electronic resources more than other faculty, but there is significant disciplinary variation even within the humanities.

The library “gateway” role is more important to humanists than to other faculty. For scientists, electronic resources are the starting-point for research.

4141

Conclusions: Archiving

Electronic archiving is important to all. Most faculty want to see hard-copies retained somewhere; but many continue to call for local retention.

Even stronger affinity for archiving in the larger universities than in the smaller institutions.

The importance of the library’s archiving function has, as was anticipated, declined somewhat, and is expected to decline further.

There are three types of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who

don’t know what hit them.Bruce Heterick (heterick@jstor.org)