ELECTRONIC JOURNALS AWARENESS OF ACADEMIC STAFF AT BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION
Introduction
In November 2006, the Bindura University of Science Education Library carried out a survey to assess the level of electronic journals (e-journals) awareness by academic staff at the University. This paper outlines how the survey was carried out and presents findings from the survey.
Population
There are three faculties at Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE). These are
the Faculty Agriculture and Environmental Science (FAES), Faculty of Commerce
(FCOM) and the Faculty of Science Education (FSE). At the time of the survey, there
were 156 academic staff whose breakdown was as follows: FAES- 62, FCOM- 26, FSE-
68. The breakdown has been shown by percentage in Figure 1 below:
Sample
45 academic staff participated in the survey. Of these, 20 were from FAES, 20 from FSE
and 5 from FCOM. This signify that the study was carried out on a sample of 28.8% of
the entire academic population. Figure 2 below shows percentage breakdown of the
sample by faculty.
Lecturers and Teaching Assistants participated in the survey. Figure 3 below shows the
breakdown of academic staff that participated in the survey.
Figure 4 below presents the qualifications of participants in different faculties.
Respondents were asked how they first heard about e-journals and they indicated that
they heard of e-journals through either the Internet, friend or colleague, the University
Library, and from other institutions. Figure 5 below shows how respondents
first heard of e-journals.
As shown in the figure above, the Internet was the chief source of information about the
journals in the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science. Responses from the
Faculty of Commerce indicated that the University Library and other institutions were
the main sources of information about the awareness on e-journals . The majority of
participants in the Faculty of Science Education first heard of e-journals through the
University Library. Overall the University Library tops the list.
Participants were asked whether they had received any form of training on how to use e-
journals. Figure 6 below shows the responses of participants on training on the usage of
e-journals.
Except for the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science where the number of
respondents who received training and those who didn’t are 50% each, in the other two
faculties, there were more academics who had not yet received any training on how to
access e-journals.
Respondents who indicated that they received some form of training listed the
following as their source of training
- Former employer
- University Library Staff
Very few of the respondents have been exposed to electronic journal usage for more than three years as shown in figure 7 below
The figure above shows that academics that participated in the survey have little experience in using e-journals. A total of only eight respondents indicated they have at least 5 years experience in using e-journals, an indicator that the concept of e-journals is still a fairly new phenomenon to many academics
Table 1 shows the journal databases the library subscribed to in 2006 and the number of participants who used each journal database.
Table 1: Electronic Journal Databases in Use
Type of Journal / Number of users in FAES / Number of users in FCOM / Number of users in FSEMCB/Emerald / - / 2 / 1
AJOL / 14 / 2 / 7
AGORA / 14 / 1 / 6
HINARI / - / 1 / -
EBSCOHost / 2 / 2 / 3
Wiley Interscience / 3 / 1 / 5
DOAJ / - / 1 / -
Springer Online / 7 / 1 / 6
Oxford / 3 / 1 / 2
Cambridge / 3 / - / 3
Taylor and Francis / 4 / - / 2
Blackwell Synergy / 8 / 2 / 4
Ingenta Connect / 3 / 1 / -
Institute Of Physics / - / - / 1
Science Direct / 6 / - / 3
Electronic Journals Library / 5 / 2 / 3
AJOL, AGORA, Springer Online and Blackwell Synergy topped the list in high usage. Some respondents indicated that they use other journal databases that were not on the list. These are:
- JSTOR
- SETAC
- ONCOMINE
- Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa
Overleaf is a table showing the list of popular e-journal databases.
Table 2: Relevant E-journal Databases
Type of Journal / FAES / FCOM / FSEBlackwell Synergy / 3 / 1 / 2
DOAJ / - / 1 / -
Wiley Interscience / - / 1 / 3
Ingenta Connect / 1 / 1 / -
AJOL / 3 / - / 4
Taylor and Francis / 1 / - / -
EBSCO Host / 2 / - / 3
Springer Online / 3 / - / 2
AGORA / 9 / - / 3
Science Direct / 3 / - / -
Table 2 shows that AGORA was ranked as the most relevant e-journal databases followed by AJOL and Blackwell. Respondents from the faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science mainly voted these as relevant.
Figure 8 below shows where academic staff accessed the e-journals.
From the figure above it is shown that some academics accessed e-journals from their offices, others shared PCs while others used computer laboratories or the Library.
Figure 9 below shows how frequent respondents accessed electronic journals
As shown above, most of the respondents accessed e-journals on a weekly basis with significantly a few accessing on a monthly basis.
The figure below presents how respondents felt on using electronic journals in comparison with print journals.
As shown in Figure 10, most of the respondents had no preference on whether to use print or electronic journals. Second ranked preference was e-journals and printed journals had the least number of respondents preferring to use them.
Below in figure 11, are graphs showing the participants’ responses on whether they are well versed about the availability of new-electronic journals in the library.
Most respondents indicated they were not well informed about the availability of new e-journals in the library.
Figure 12 below shows the methods by which respondents got informed about the new e-journals.
From Figure 12 above, it has been noted that the majority of respondents were informed about the new-journals through workshops held by the library, while one respondent got the information through e-mail updates and two others got the information from library staff.
Respondents were asked whether their use of electronic journals varied between direct courses or levels. Below, in Figure 13, are the responses.
Respondents highlighted that in most cases the use of e-journals varied depending on the type of information required, course and projects or assignments being done.
65 % of the respondents expressed that there were no sufficient e-journals they were accessing in terms of meeting the needs of their students. This might be an indication that the types of e-journals that the Library is subscribing to a the moment are not fulfilling the requirements of the courses or most of the users are not yet aware of the existence of these journals.
Respondents cited the following reasons for their answers:
- Limited journals on environmental issues
- Full text access
- More journals on Chemistry
- More journals should cover applied Physics agrometeorology
- “Not yet well versed’’
Respondents were asked whether they encouraged others to use e-journals. Figure 18 below shows responses made.
Responses show that most of the respondents encouraged others to use e-journals.
Below are some suggestions that respondents brought forward on how the University can promote electronic journals
- Training (ILS)- more workshops required
- Increase the number of Internet points
- Efficient uninterrupted Internet services
- More PCs required
- Use Electronic bulletin boards
- All Libraries should have access to the Internet
- Teaching materials should include references citing e-journals
- Advocate for full text access for all journals
- Selective dissemination of information through e-mailing
- Use of Pamphlets
- Bulletin Boards
Discussion
16 respondents indicated that they first heard of e-journals through the University Library, 11 first heard of them through other institutions while nine heard of them first through the Internet whereas colleagues or friends informed six. These results show that most participants in the survey had no previous knowledge of e-journals and they got to know about them through the University Library. This implies that, to some extent, the Library’s e-journal awareness campaign had far reaching effects. However, the fact that some participants got to know about e-journals through other means points out to the fact that library staff have a job to do:
(i)There is need to ensure that those who got to know about the e-journals through other means are at the same wave length as those who were assisted by the Library
(ii)Call to ensure that the e-journals campaigns reach all academic staff campus-wide.
Over half of the respondents indicated that they hadn’t received any training on the use of e-journals. Such a phenomenon reflects on the following:
(i)Past awareness campaigns were not well attended probably because academics invited to participate were not fully aware of the benefits of the training programmes; and,
(ii)New academic staff are yet to receive some training.
This also calls for the need for the Library to hold more rigorous campaigns and training sessions on e-journal awareness and usage. Various approaches could be taken in promoting the e-journals. These include:
(i)The Internet where the Library web page can be used to post some news clips since some respondents tend to spend more of their research time on the Internet than consulting the Library;
(ii)Electronic mail bulletins are another possible avenue to follow;
(iii)Using bulletin boards where posters and flyers are posted; and,
(iv)Faculty board meetings can be handy too since Faculty Librarians attend these.
Experience in using e-journals among academic staff seems to be still limited. Only 35% of the respondents indicated that they have at least 3 years experience in using e-journals. As mentioned earlier on, such a figure, shows that e-journal usage is a practice that is still in its infancy. With that in mind, it is pointed out that academics need more training and exposure to e-journals. Another cause for a limited experience in e-journal usage could be the poor Internet infrastructure in Zimbabwe, which has, however, started to improve significantly.
AGORA topped the list on high usage particularly because it has been on the scene for quite some time and has been on offer free of charge. Other institutions such as the Agricultural and Research Extension Services (AREX) have been using it and its sister databases such as TEEAL and HINARI. Other university libraries have been using these as well. Springer Online and Blackwell Synergy, which are multidisciplinary journal databases, also had high usage. A major reason for that could possibly be the fact that library staff used these databases for demonstrations during training sessions.
12 respondents indicated that they had PCs for individual use in their offices, eight accessed e-journals via machines in University Campus Laboratories, 18 shared computers in their offices, two used computers in the Library whereas three accessed e-journals using computers at other institutions and Internet cafes. These statistics relate well to comments from the respondents on how e-journals could be improved
The low frequency in accessing e-journals also reflects on some points mentioned earlier that knowledge of some e-journals among academic staff is still low. Limited Internet resources also have a negative bearing on this.
Whereas eight respondents indicated that they preferred using print journals, 17 preferred electronic journals while eight had no preference. Having more respondents stating that they could go for either print or electronic journals reflect that full awareness on e-journals is not widespread, but the fact that those preferring e-journals came second on the list shows that the e-journals are fast becoming popular whereas print journals are losing popularity gradually.
The majority of respondents indicated that they weren’t fully aware of how e-journals can be accessed. They also called for a better awareness program. This implies that the Library has to revise its awareness campaign and training programme.
The Way Forward
(i)There is need to acquire more computers and increase network points to ensure that Internet access University- wide is improved.
(ii)A more vigorous awareness and training campaign programme is required. The Library’s information Literacy Skills (ILS) training sessions, which are currently being provided for the postgraduate students, may also be extended to academic staff. Awareness can be enhanced through the followed means:
- Publicizing the e-journals in the University’s newsletter;
- Informing faculty staff of latest developments concerning e-journals subscriptions during faculty board meetings where the Library is represented;
- Posting updates on the Library’s web pages on the University website;
- Delivering some lectures and presentation on e-journals awareness and use during the University’s Technology Week sessions; and
- Inviting faculty staff for some one-on-one session with library staff.
(iii)It is also important to point out that there is need to co-opt some of the e-journals and databases that participants showed interest in but are not included on the list of journals the Library subscribes to. These are:
- Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa;
- SETAC;
- JSTOR; and,
- Oncomine.
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