Electronic Journals, Just in Case, Just in Time, Just for You : Usage of Electronic Journals at Chalmers University of Technology

This user study was carried out at the library at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg in the spring of 1999. Chalmers wanted to investigate how much their employees use electronic journals. To facilitate decision-making and be cost effective, the library needed to know about their customers' opinions. The main purpose was to investigate the usage of electronic journals, how the library's choice of these journals affects the frequency of use and what the attitudes towards them are. A questionnaire was sent out to 2 400 employees; 477 replies were received. The result shows that 55% of the respondents use electronic journals at least once a month. The major advantages of electronic journals are, according to the study, the easy access and the option to work from one's own desk. The major disadvantage is the difficulty in scanning them. Two thirds of the respondents are willing to let go of the print journal at the library in favour of the electronic one, but only one fifth are willing to give up their departmental subscriptions. For a majority, conditions such as user friendliness and archiving must be fulfilled before electronic journals can be fully accepted.Uppsatsnivå: