how information usage patterns are changing among undergraduates, graduate
students, and faculty members in U.S. academic institutions. The report,
Dimensions and Use of the Scholarly Information Environment: Introduction to a Data Set Assembled by the
Digital Library Federation and Outsell, Inc., is available on the Web and will soon be available in print.
subject: DLF
digital library federation
Amy Friedlander
library use
information resources
Outsell study
CLIR
DLF
CLIR Press Release
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: October 17, 2002
Contact: Deanna Marcum 202-939-4758
David Seaman 202-939-4762
Report Examines Changing Patterns of Information Use
Washington, D.C.Data are now available from a large-scale study of
how information usage patterns are changing among undergraduates, graduate
students, and faculty members in U.S. academic institutions. The report,
Dimensions and Use of the Scholarly Information Environment: Introduction to a Data Set Assembled by the
Digital Library Federation and Outsell, Inc., is available at https://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub110abst.html and will soon be available in print.
The data come from a survey of 3,234 faculty members, graduate students,
and undergraduate students in a range of disciplines from almost 400 public and
private institutions of varying sizes. The Digital Library Federation (DLF) commissioned the research firm Outsell, Inc., to conduct the survey in late 2001 and early 2002.
Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Special Projects
Associate Amy Friedlander introduces the report and its 158 data tables, which represents a subset of the 659 data tables provided by Outsell. Ms. Friedlander provides a
brief overview of findings and possible implications. The overview is presented in
three sections. Part 1, Faculty and
Students, summarizes information describing
basic demographic characteristics of the respondents and their major and
minor responsibilities, use of different media, satisfactions, and frustrations.
Part 2, Infrastructure, Facilities, and
Services, summarizes information related to
where respondents access information, how they find information, sources of
information used, and use of library services. Part 3,
Formats, summarizes the use of different formats of
information (e.g., print/hard-copy books, print/hard-copy journals, e-journals, online abstracts and indexes).
While providing a comprehensive snapshot of academic information users’ attitudes, expectations
and behaviors, the data also suggest a number of areas for further study.
In the coming months, the DLF and CLIR will post to the Web all 659 of the data tables provided by Outsell, and will deposit the
raw data tapes with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
The Digital Library Federation is a partnership of research libraries dedicated to creating,
maintaining, expanding, and preserving a distributed collection of digital materials accessible to scholars and
a wider public. The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent,
nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the management of information for research, teaching,
and learning. CLIR works to expand access to information, however recorded and preserved, as a
public good.
