The changing information environments have affected the service of libraries, and such environmental changes have accelerated the growth of e-journals. There is a rapid increase in the number of e-journals thanks to the benefits of e-journal such as s...
The changing information environments have affected the service of libraries, and such environmental changes have accelerated the growth of e-journals. There is a rapid increase in the number of e-journals thanks to the benefits of e-journal such as superb accessibility and offer of up-to-date information, and user needs are increasingly diversified in line with this trend.
The purpose of this study was to examine the use and user behaviors of e-journals in an effort to seek the ways of revitalizing the use of e-journals. The methods used in this study were survey questionaires and interviews of students who took a general education course or library and Information Science courses offered in D University. The study collected the data regarding use, user behaviors, service quality, library user education and advertisement of e-journals. In addition, the study analyzed the library website and interviewed librarians.
The findings of the study were as follows:
The rate of using e-journals was lower among the students whose majors were not library and information science comparing the students whose majors were library and information science. The former mostly made use of domestic e-journals, whereas the latter made even use of domestic and foreign e-journals. Regarding the prior purpose of using e-journals both students used them to perform their study tasks. As for barriers to the use of e-journals, the library and information science non-majors replied that there weren't materials they wanted, and that it wasn't easy to find which databases included the information they wanted. In other hand the library and information science majors answered that it's hard to choose relevant materials from the materials they retrieved. As for the quality of services about e-journals provided by the library, they viewed it satisfactory in general while the library and information science majors expressed more satisfaction than their counterparts.
As a result of analyzing the survey and interview data, there were several problems with e-journals:
First, the library and information science non-majors knew about e-journals through their professors or leaflets, and the library and information science majors accurately learned and practiced how to use e-journals when they took major courses. There was a difference between the two in the way of knowing about e-journals. Second, the students preferred to use Internet portal sites, which seemed to imply that they were more fond of the quantity of information than its quality. Third, simple keyword searching made it difficult for them to select materials, and they took a passive attitude when they were confronted with any problems. Fourth, some of the students took a little negative view of the library since the library didn't possess materials they wanted or since they had some grievance about the library facilities.
Based on the findings of the study, there were some suggestions on how to boost the use of e-journals for college students.
First, professors should encourage their students to make use of e-journals by assigning tasks requiring the use of e-journals. Second, library user education should provide users search methods both simple search and advanced search of e-journals. Third, a wide variety of P.R. activities regarding e-journals should be conducted by utilizing posters or SNS to communicate with students. Fourth, the environments of the library should be improved to attract both users and non-users. Finally, the college should fully be cognizant of the necessity of reeducation for librarians and offer full-fledged assistance for that.