Scholarly use of Internet-based electronic resources

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.