LIBRARY AND INFORMATION USE PATTERNS BY ENGINEERING FACULTY AND STUDENTS Lisha Li William Baer June 2009

Outline  Purpose  Methodology and process  Survey Responses  Survey Results  Limitations  Conclusions

Purpose  To study the library usage patterns by engineering faculty and students  To compare usage patterns among different groups  Using the results of study to improve services in the following areas: Library out-reach Library instruction Resources access

Methodology & Process  Online survey (CEE & ME)  Questionnaire with multiple choices and open end questions.  Focus on: library use and information resources use habits.  Number of questions: Student survey:17 Faculty survey: 18  Online tools used: Survey Monkey.

Methodology & Process Questionnaire design – Oct IRB review – Oct survey link to departments (twice in 2 weeks) – Nov Data collection – Dec Faculty survey reopened – Feb Analysis – Dec Feb. 2009

Survey Population and Response Rate  Student population: Total enrollment (Fall 2008): 19,413 Total enrollment in COE: 11,079 Total students in ME & CEE:3,398 Total responses: 274 Response rate: 8%

Survey Population and Response Rate (cont.)  Faculty population: CEE Faculty: 89 ME Faculty: 97 Total Faculty: 186 Total Response: 25 Response Rate: 13%

Demographics  Student Participants: Undergraduates: 216 (79%)  Freshmen: 34  Sophomore:38  Junior: 60  Senior: 84 Graduates: 58 (21%)  Masters:13  Doctoral:45

Demographics (cont.)  Student Participants By gender:  Female – 95 (35%)  Male – 178 (65%) By school:  CEE – 90 (33%)  ME – 184 (67%) International:23 (8%)  Graduate: 18 31% of all graduate  Undergraduate: 5

Demographics (cont.)  Faculty Participants: By Academic Level  Assistant Professor: 4  Associate Professor: 7  Professor: 12  Other: 2  Total: 25 By Gender  Female: 2  Male: 23

How Often Students Come to the Library?

How Often Faculty Come to the Library?

Top 5 Reasons Students Use the Library - Undergraduate

Top 5 Reasons Students Use the Library - Graduate

When Students Prefer to Study in the Library?

Google Effect Q:“Google is sufficient to meet most of my research needs.” (%)

Resources Use Rankings (by Undergraduate ) Q: Where do you go to meet your academic information needs? (Please rank your 1st, 2nd, 3rd... choices) – (Undergraduate)

Resource Use Rankings (by Graduate ) Q: Where do you go to meet your academic information needs? (Please rank your 1st, 2nd, 3rd... choices) – (Graduate)

Resource Use Rankings (by Faculty) Q: Where do you go to meet your academic information needs? (Please rank your 1st, 2nd, 3rd... choices) – (Faculty)

Best Databases (by Graduate) Q: What are the best databases in your field(s)? (Please rank choices 1, 2, 3, and 4) – (Graduate)

Best Databases (by Faculty)

How Well the Undergraduates Feel They Know the Databases? Q: How would you categorize your level of familiarity with using the following library resources? - (Undergraduate)

How Well the Graduates Feel They Know the Databases? Q: How would you categorize your level of familiarity with using the following library resources? - (Graduate)

Training Preferences Q: What types of training in library resources do you prefer? (Check all that apply) - Students

Seeking Help with Research - Students Q: How do you seek research help from the Library? (Check all that apply) – All Students

Seeking Help with Research - Faculty Q: How do you seek research help from the Library? (Check all that apply) - Faculty

ILL Use – Students Q: How many articles/books have you ordered through the interlibrary loan (ILLiad) services in the past 12 month? – (All students)

ILL Use – Faculty Q: How many articles/books have you ordered through the interlibrary loan (ILLiad) services within the past year? - Faculty

Satisfaction with Electronic Journal Access - Students Q: How satisfied are you with obtaining journal articles electronically through the Georgia Tech Library?

Limitations  Response rate  Timing of the survey  Interpretation of questions  Answer choices

Conclusions  Undergraduate students rely on the library as a space to study.  Over all, students prefer online tutorials for database training. But online tutorials can not replace other methods of instruction.  Seniors and graduate students have more knowledge about library resources compared to other students. But we still need to do more to promote library resources.

Conclusions (cont.)  Faculty rely on the electronic resources and interlibrary loan services for research.  We need to be more creative in promoting library resources and services.

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU!