Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (Sep 2012)
University Engineering Faculty Depend on Scholarly Journals, Web Resources, and Face-to-Face Consultations to Help Them with Research. A Review of: Engel, D., Robbins, S., & Kulp, C. (2011). The information-seeking habits of engineering faculty. College & Research Libraries, 72(6), 548-567.
Abstract
Objective – To study the information-seekingbehaviour of engineering faculty.Design – Online survey; Purposive sample.Setting – Engineering departments of 20 largepublic universities in various regions of theUnited States.Subjects – 903 engineering faculty members(including 35% professors; 24% associateprofessors, 23% assistant professors, and 17%ranked as adjunct faculty, instructors,lecturers, professors emeriti and “other”).Methods – 4905 researchers were sent an emailinvitation to complete a 12-item survey withopen and closed questions. Email addresseswere gathered from university websites.Main Results – 96% of those surveyed findaccess to online scholarly journals (current andbackfiles) as very important or important. 71%believe access to the physical book collection isvery important or important. 56% feel thataccess to electronic book collections is veryimportant or important. (Further analysisrevealed a difference between newer and olderfaculty- 62% of newer faculty and 52% offaculty in field for 16 or more years thinkelectronic book collections are important).Print subscriptions to journals are important toonly 37% of respondents, and providing spaceto conduct research is important to only 36% ofthose surveyed. Besides attending conferencesand scanning journals, face-to-face discussion with students and colleagues was a key resource for faculty for keeping current in the engineering field. 81% seek information at least weekly to prepare for lectures, about 74% at least monthly to conduct research or write publications, and 77% at least monthly to remain current in their field. 73% visited the physical library fewer than five times in the past year, but researchers were surprised that almost half (47%) rated assistance from library staff as important or very important. 70% see interlibrary loan services as important or very important.Conclusion – Engineering faculty rely on scholarly journals, Internet, and other electronic resources for their research. They depend on face-to-face consultations with students and colleagues. The physical space of the library is less important.
