Impact and Significance of Electronic Information Resources among Aerospace Scientists, Engineers and Technologists of Bangalore: A Research Survey

Aviation is one of the most significant technological marvels of our time and empowers the nation with strength. It’s a major tool for economic development and has a significant role in national security and international relations. Aerospace Engineering is the application of advanced science and technology for the design and development of flight vehicles. Originally called Aeronautical Engineering dealing solely with aircraft, the broader term “Aerospace Engineering” has replaced the former in most usage, as flight technology advanced to include aircraft operating the earth’s atmosphere. In this Information Explosion age, it is practically impossible for an aerospace scientist or engineer to carry out his research work without embracing the network and Internet technologies. They greatly depend upon these electronic innovation tools for accessing electronic information resources in the form of e-journals related to aerospace engineering right at the desktops. Now, it is absolutely clear that use of electronic media to support scientific communication has undoubtedly been one of the paradigm shifts in the practice of science in this era. With the coming of e-resources, there has been a significant transformation by which scholarly information is disseminated throughout the world. In fact, the arrival of e-journals has greatly influenced the way a scientist or an engineer seeks this information, acquires it and then uses it effectively. Today Governments, R&D institutions and Universities invest substantial sums of money for proving scholars with the digital literature they need for their research work with the intention that improved access to electronic information resources will lead to increasing scholarly productivity. The extent of publications available online combined with easier access has tremendously improved scholars’ ability to keep abreast in their field, and perhaps inspire new ideas and ultimately enhance the quality of their work. The use pattern of electronic information resources is same for scientists and engineers irrespective of their disciplines. But, aerospace scientists and engineers have an advantage as they are well exposed to the electronic environment and IT due to the nature of their work itself. The use of electronic information resources is highly expected from them particularly as an integrated information system to their learning and working environment. The author has in this research study has attempted to study the impact of electronic information resources, amongst the Indian Aerospace Scientists, Engineers and Technologists. The geographical boundary of this study is restricted to the 16 prominent aerospace organizations of Bangalore. The city of Bangalore is rightly called the ‘Aerospace Hub of the Country’