A new survey has been undertaken which looks at the changing practices of academics in the UK. Ben Showers of Jisc and Mike Mertens of RLUK discuss three key findings of the survey which demonstrate the influence of new technologies on research, the altering perceptions of support services and the changing role of the academic library.
(Interesting dichotomy - see the graphs in this article - researchers are not particulary interested in publishing in open access publications but the do want to be able to find the information they need freely available to download!)
"The survey underlines that for academics, electronic versions of
monographs are not well suited to some research activities.
Specifically, a majority of academics indicated that reading
cover-to-cover or in depth reading was ‘much easier’ or ‘somewhat
easier’ in print format..."
and: "A major set of findings highlights the value academics place on the role
of the library within their teaching and research. While only 2% of
respondents visited the library to begin their research query, nearly
90% of respondents saw the library’s most important function as a
purchaser of content. Furthermore, around 30% of respondents indicated
that the library has a role in increasing the productivity of their
research."
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