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Information seeking behavior of academic scientists

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  • Bradley M. Hemminger
  • Dihui Lu
  • K.T.L. Vaughan
  • Stephanie J. Adams

Abstract

The information seeking behavior of academic scientists is being transformed by the availability of electronic resources for searching, retrieving, and reading scholarly materials. A census survey was conducted of academic science researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to capture their current information seeking behavior. Nine hundred two subjects (26%) completed responses to a 15‐minute Web‐based survey. The survey questions were designed to quantify the transition to electronic communications and how this affects different aspects of information seeking. Significant changes in information seeking behavior were found, including increased reliance on web based resources, fewer visits to the library, and almost entirely electronic communication of information. The results can guide libraries and other information service organizations as they adapt to meet the needs of today's information searchers. Simple descriptive statistics are reported for the individual questions. Additionally, analysis of results is broken out by basic science and medical science departments. The survey tool and protocol used in this study have been adopted for use in a nationwide survey of the information seeking behavior of academic scientists.

Suggested Citation

  • Bradley M. Hemminger & Dihui Lu & K.T.L. Vaughan & Stephanie J. Adams, 2007. "Information seeking behavior of academic scientists," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 58(14), pages 2205-2225, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamist:v:58:y:2007:i:14:p:2205-2225
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.20686
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    Cited by:

    1. Katrin Hussinger & Lorenzo Palladini, 2024. "Information accessibility and knowledge creation: the impact of Google’s withdrawal from China on scientific research," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 753-783, July.
    2. Elizabeth Martín-Mora & Shari Ellis & Lawrence M Page, 2020. "Use of web-based species occurrence information systems by academics and government professionals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-41, July.
    3. Xi Niu & Bradley M. Hemminger & Cory Lown & Stephanie Adams & Cecelia Brown & Allison Level & Merinda McLure & Audrey Powers & Michele R. Tennant & Tara Cataldo, 2010. "National study of information seeking behavior of academic researchers in the United States," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(5), pages 869-890, May.
    4. Ehsan Mohammadi & Mike Thelwall & Stefanie Haustein & Vincent Larivière, 2015. "Who reads research articles? An altmetrics analysis of Mendeley user categories," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 66(9), pages 1832-1846, September.
    5. Georgiou, Andrew & Makri, Stephann, 2015. "How local government policy workers use information: An interview study and design recommendations," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 472-489.
    6. Wang, Xianwen & Wang, Zhi & Mao, Wenli & Liu, Chen, 2014. "How far does scientific community look back?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 562-568.
    7. Juan Pablo Bascur & Suzan Verberne & Nees Jan Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2023. "Academic information retrieval using citation clusters: in-depth evaluation based on systematic reviews," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(5), pages 2895-2921, May.

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