Scholarly use of internet‐based electronic resources

Abstract

Abstract This research examines the use of Internet‐based electronic resources (e‐sources) by a group of library and information science (LIS) scholars. It focuses particularly on how scholars use, cite, and evaluate e‐sources during the research process. This research also explores the problems scholars encounter and concerns they have when using e‐sources for research. The following approaches were used to collect data for the investigation: (a) a longitudinal analysis of e‐source citations in eight LIS journals from 1991 through 1998; (b) a survey of editors of the eight journals; and (c) a survey of 201 authors with articles to be published in the eight journals. The longitudinal analysis of e‐source citations shows that there has been a notable increase in the number and proportion of authors who cite e‐sources in their research articles over the 8‐year period, although at the time of this study, e‐sources were still cited much less frequently than print sources. This result provides empirical evidence that e‐sources are increasingly used among scholars. Complementing the citation data, the results from the author survey show that e‐sources are becoming an important component in scholars' research, and are serving a wide range of purposes and functions. The number of access points and self‐perceived overall ability to use the Internet are identified as the two significant variables affecting frequency of e‐source use. The results of this study also suggest that a limited number of criteria can be implemented in practice for scholars to evaluate electronic sources and systems. When citing e‐sources, scholars consider some factors that are unique to e‐sources, in addition to the factors they consider for print sources. Although the advantages of e‐sources promote citing, some drawbacks of e‐sources at this stage serve as a barrier. The survey of editors also reveals a lack of clearly stated editorial policies regarding citing e‐sources. The major problems and concerns reported by scholars regarding using e‐sources are summarized, and both the theoretical implications and practical applications of the findings are discussed.

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