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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #133191
Title: A profile of faculty reading and information-use behaviors on the cusp of the electronic age

Author
item Miller, Helen
item KING, DONALD - KING RESEARCH

Submitted to: Journal of the American Society for Information Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/2002
Publication Date: 2/1/2003
Citation: Miller, H.B., King, D.W. 2003. A profile of faculty reading and information-use behaviors on the cusp of the electronic age. Journal of the American Society for Information Science. 54:179-181.

Interpretive Summary: The majority of a university faculty's work deals with information or knowledge--finding, getting, reading, and using it. We analyzed the demographic portion of a library use survey given to faculty and staff of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) in 1993 to obtain a profile of information-related activities carried out by university faculty. Journal articles were the predominant document type that faculty both read and authored. Faculty averaged 4.2 journal subscriptions per person, of which 84% were paid for personally. Twenty-five percent of the faculty had obtained some funds for information products and of those funded, the median amount provided was $500. Faculty spent 24 minutes per day using e-mail and 78 minutes per week on the non-e-mail computer network. Faculty reported publishing 3.0 journal articles per year and 31% of the faculty had won an award for professional contributions in the previous two years. These data provide a baseline of faculty reading and information use behaviors that can be used for future studies on the effects of technological innovations on the work habits of academicians.

Technical Abstract: The majority of a university faculty's work deals with information or knowledge--finding, getting, reading, and using it. We analyzed the demographic portion of a library use survey given to faculty and staff of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) in 1993 to obtain a profile of information-related activities carried out by university faculty. Journal articles were the predominant document type that faculty both read and authored. Faculty averaged 4.2 journal subscriptions per person, of which 84% were paid for personally. Twenty-five percent of the faculty had obtained some funds for information products and of those funded, the median amount provided was $500. Faculty spent 24 minutes per day using e-mail and 78 minutes per week on the non-e-mail computer network. Faculty reported publishing 3.0 journal articles per year and 31% of the faculty had won an award for professional contributions in the previous two years. These data provide a baseline of faculty reading and information use behaviors that can be used for future studies on the effects of technological innovations on the work habits of academicians.