Use and value of technical reports

1. Use and value of technical reports Katy Sidwell University of Leeds c.a.sidwell@leeds.ac.uk

2. Use and value of technical reports • Views from the literature • use of reports • factors determining use • reason for use • how reports are found • value of reports • MAGiC impact study • methodology and results MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

3. Use of technical reports • Evidence from surveys • 81% of 3,106 engineers had used reports in the previous year • AAES, 1986 • 83% of 872 aerospace engineers used reports for a recent project • Anderson et al, 2001 MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

4. Factors determining use • ‘Law of least effort’ • Accessibility • Ease of use • Chakrabarti (1983) • accessibility - 12th • utility of information - 5th • frequency of use - 8th MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

5. Aspects of use • King and Griffiths (1991) • 90% of reports read for specific work activities • average age of reports read is 2 years • 50% are 6 months or younger • used over a longer period than journals • recommendations by colleagues • library staff report bulletins • citations online searches MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

6. Value of technical reports • $709 savings per reading • stopping unproductive work • avoidance of primary research • confirmation of current research • modifying research/engineering design • 1-2% readings accounted for most savings • relevant reports are very valuable MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

7. MAGiC impact study • Investigating • why engineers use technical reports • how reports are found and read • if reports are useful and relevant • comparison with other sources MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

8. Methodology • Two locations • Cranfield University • dstl (defence science and technology laboratory) • Participants returning reports • 13 staff, 17 researchers, 11 masters (42%) • 29 engineers, 13 corporate, 3 government (95%) • Context of a particular report MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

9. Results • How did you find out about the report? • 53% library catalogue • 17% recommendation • 16% citation • Recommendation • 86% dstl • Citation • 71% Cranfield MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

10. Results • Why did you borrow the report? • 66% relevant to current work • 16% for the data • 94% subject matter was relevant to work • Which parts of the report did you read? • 40% fully read • 59% selectively read • abstract • results and conclusions MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

11. Results • Did the contents of the report meet the need? • 51% fully • 41% partially • Was the report useful? • 85% to current work • 7% to future work MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

12. Results • How did the report help you? • 48% gave new knowledge • 15% helped solve problem • 12% refreshed memory • 7% saved time • 6% substantiated hypothesis MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

13. Results • Ranking the importance of sources MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

14. Results - top sources graphically MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

15. Results MAGiC - use and value of technical reports

16. Conclusions • Reports are important to engineers’ work • Where reports are catalogued they will be found • The Internet is used and is popular • If only there were something combining all three... MAGiC - use and value of technical reports