Scholars’ use of libraries - research findings
A research paper by Rowlands and Nicholas (2005) has found that academics now place very considerable reliance on a wide variety of electronic resources for finding relevant journal articles. Google and other search engines were the fourth and fifth (respectively) most depended upon sources of this information. And whilst chasing up references in papers remained the most depended upon method of finding other relevant articles, the library was rated in 11th position out of a possible 12!.
They reflect that “the convenience and speed of electronic tools was highly appreciated but the role and importance of the physical library merits serious reflection… Clearly, libraries need to consider their position/visability in a digital world where their users are removed from them and not even conscious they are the ones who pay the access bills. We have found in our log studies that usage depends highly on visability and libraries are facing real problems maintaining their visability in an increasingly digital world”
