Use of Electronic Resources by Science Faculty and Researchers in Selected North Indian Universities

The study investigates the use of electronic resources by the science faculty and research scholars in five universities of North India. Survey method was employed and the data was collected using a comprehensive questionnaire. The results obtained from 668 respondents indicated that the usage was highest for e-journals in comparison to other e-resources. Preference is given to search engines in finding information which is chiefly used for research and related purposes. The use of advanced search strategies like Boolean, proximity, wildcards and truncation was found to be low. Science Direct, Springer Link, Taylor & Francis and Wiley Blackwell were the most used among other resources. Less than one-fourth users were found to have attended training in use of e-resources. The study suggests conduction of more training programmes and promotion of e-resources for their optimum utilization