EPIC Online Publishing Use and Costs Evaluation Program: Summary Report

Purpose of EPIC Evaluation Program To investigate how online electronic resources affect different aspects of the scholarly communication process. a) general perspective b) through lens of EPIC projects

How Does the Shift to Electronic Resources Affect the Following Groups? Publishers Information Technology Librarians Faculty Students

Research Projects Librarian Focus Group Faculty Interviews Student Interviews Librarian Online Survey (1007 respondents) Faculty Online Survey (845 respondents) Student Online Survey (1233 respondents)

Summary of Findings

Librarians: Changes in Library Staffing, Responsibilities, and Skills

Staffing 64% of librarians report that additional staff have been added: IT staff (48%) Webmaster (38%) Site licensing specialists (12%) Data management librarian (7%)

New Responsibilities Instructing users in use of electronic resources (91%) Reviewing/evaluating/ electronic resources for purchase (80%) Recommend for purchase (78%) Evaluate usage (50%) Make retention decisions (50%) Review license agreements (22%)

New Job Skills When asked to list out new skills needed, respondents mentioned: Overall knowledge of computers and software Web development/programming Computer search skills Database knowledge Troubleshooting skills Decision making skills for purchase of new electronic resources

Faculty and Students: Changes in Teaching, Research, and Learning

Teaching 99.8% use electronic resources in some capacity for teaching Enhanced lectures/course assignments: Use of current events information (81%) Use of real data for examples or assignments (85%) Use of Internet during class to demonstrate with interactive graphics (Flash) or applets (70%)

Teaching (cont’) Supplementary teaching tools: Use of online information as primary or secondary course material (92%) Use of Learning Management Environments (35%) Administrative aid: Course website (61%)

Research 92% report electronic resources have affected the type of projects they work on Affects types of projects worked on: Increased access to colleagues from around the world within and outside their area of expertise (77%) Increased access to information in own field (63%) Increased access to data (59%) Increased access to information outside area of expertise which allows work on interdisciplinary projects (44%)

Research (cont’) Affects productivity and audience reached: Increases scholarly productivity (75%) Research reaches a broader audience (59%) Research gets out into the public eye sooner (48%)

Learning Benefits reaped: Ability to do projects they couldn’t have done in the past (F: 85%, S: 73%) Challenges faced: Get overloaded with information (S: 57%) Have difficulty judging the quality of information (F: 93%, S: 51%) Plagiarism (F: 87%, S: 48%)

Learning (cont’) Work habits: Tend to go no further than electronic resources (F: 91%, S: 55%) Students don’t learn how to use physical library (F: 89%, S: 23%)

Observations and Conclusions

Change in Role of Library Physical spaces other than the library are taking on important roles in research, teaching, and learning Physical library used more for its’ study space than for its’ academic resources Lack of organized instruction for remote users Loss of library control over the quality of material that reaches users

Change in Information that Reaches Users Availability of information that users might otherwise not have Increased use of non-library sponsored materials Too much information Not all information is good information (lack of quality control)

Change In Faculty/Student Work Habits When, where, and what they use: Work any time of day or night Work from locations other than a campus facility Often don’t go beyond electronic resources

Change in Interactions Between Faculty and Students: Use of Learning Management Environments Use of Among Faculty: Increased contact with colleagues outside one’s institution Virtual conferences Virtual research teams

Critical Areas for Further Research Library and publishing strategies that acknowledge faculty and student use of Google as the first stop for research. Future role of libraries as physical and virtual spaces for research and learning Need for new functionality in electronic resources to satisfy new user expectations.

Christina Norman Research Director The Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC)