EPIC Faculty Survey 2003

1. EPIC Faculty Survey2003

2. Table of Contents • Introduction Slide 3 • Methods Slide 4 • Objectives Slide 5 • How to Read the Graphs in This Presentation Slide 6 • Respondent Profile Slide 7 • Use of Print and Electronic Resources Slide 12 • Perceived Benefits and Disadvantages of Using Electronic Resources Slide 18 • Use of Electronic Resources for Research Slide 25 • Electronic Resources and Teaching Slide 33 • Faculty Perceptions of Electronic Resources and Students Slide 39 • Conclusions Slide 46

3. Introduction The Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC) is conducting a series of interviews, focus groups, and surveys as part of a comprehensive research program to examine the impact of electronic resources on the scholarly communication process. This includes examining the effect of electronic resources on publishers of scholarly materials, academic libraries, information technology departments at institutions of higher education, college faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The study reported here examines the use and effects of electronic resources on college faculty.

4. A 25 minute online survey of college faculty was conducted between February 11 and March 9, 2003. E-mail invitations were sent to scholars in the fields of International Affairs and Earth/Environmental Sciences at 4 year colleges and universities across the United States. We focused on these particular disciplines because two of EPIC’s projects were created for scholars in these disciplines (Columbia International AffairsOnline for International Affairs and Earthscape for the Earth/Environmental Sciences.) The overall response rate to this survey was 14%. Of those who responded, 574 individuals met our inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria stipulated respondents be an assistant, associate, or full professor at a 4-year liberal arts college, Master’s college or university, or doctoral/research university, specializing in the field of International Affairs or Earth Science. The original sample reflected the underlying distribution of faculty in four year liberal arts colleges and universities for control of school (public vs. private), rank of professor (assistant, associate, full), and type of institution (4-year liberal arts, master’s college or university, or doctoral/research university) based on the last year of data available (1998). Weighting factors were used to match the sample to the population for gender, and to distribute discipline so that it was represented as 50% International Affairs and 50% Earth Sciences. Methods

5. The objectives of this study were to: Gain insights into how academics are using electronic resources in their academic work (both research and teaching) Gain insights into the perceived benefits and disadvantages of electronic resources Learn how academics perceive electronic resources as affecting undergraduate students’ scholarship Examine differences in use of electronic resources based on stage of career, type of discipline and type of institution Objectives

6. How to Read The Slides in This Presentation • On each slide, the actual survey question is listed in the bottom left corner of the slide. • The “N=“ that is listed under the title of the slide indicates the number of respondents who answered a particular question on the survey. • The text under the graphs explain the responses and comparisons shown in the graph. On some slides, bars on the graph are added together when percentages are cited in the text. For example the text may list the percentage who “agreed” with a certain statement. This percentage is comprise of those who indicated that they either strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement. • Some slides have a note in the bottom left hand corner stating that “All of the differences on this chart are statistically significant”. This indicates that statistical analyses were conducted and the two groups being compared differ from each other at the .05 level of statistical significance testing on all of the items listed.

7. Respondent Profile

8. Gender & AgeN=574 • Gender was weighted to match the underlying distribution within the population of faculty at 4-year colleges and research/doctoral universities. • Most respondents were between the ages of 31 and 60. Are you: A. Male B.Female What is your age? (open-ended)

9. Academic Responsibilities & Level of AppointmentN=574 • Almost half of the respondents split their responsibilities about equally as a teacher and a researcher. Forty percent identified themselves as more or solely a teacher and 10.6% identified themselves as more or solely a researcher. • Level of appointment matched the underlying distribution in the population of faculty in 4-year colleges and universities. In terms of your research and teaching responsibilities, how would you describe yourself? Please indicate your level of appointment with your institution.

10. Type and Control of InstitutionN=574 • Type of institution and control of institution reflected the underlying distribution of faculty in four year colleges and universities across the country. What type of academic institution are you employed at?

11. Use of and Proficiency with Electronic ResourcesN=574 • Virtually all of the respondents used electronic resources a few times a week or more (91.8%) and over 60% classify themselves as being extremely or very proficient with electronic resources. How often would you say you use electronic resources (excluding e-mail) for academic or scholarly purposes? Please rate your level of proficiency with electronic resources.

12. Use of Print and Electronic Resources

13. Do you Prefer Print or Electronic Resources? N=574 • Most faculty members do not have an overwhelming preference for print or electronic resources. Rather, their preference varies on a case by case basis depending on the type of information they are looking for, how they are going to use the material, and where they are going to use the material. Print resources are preferred when the material is a book or long article, it is something they need to read in-depth, or the material contains images or data that does not show up well electronically. Electronic resources are preferred when using materials that are short in length, searching or browsing for information, for current materials, and when using data or graphics that can be downloaded and manipulated. • Of those respondents who prefer print, the main reasons were the ease of handling and reading print. Other reasons included the ability to write on print, ability to browse, ease of saving print for future use, and ease of evaluating the reliability of print resources. • Of those respondents who prefer electronic resources, the main reasons were the ease of access and use, saving time and space, and the ability to access information from anywhere. • Associate/full professors were statistically more likely to prefer print resources than their junior colleagues. This may be due to their history of using print resources whereas junior faculty may be more familiar with electronic resources. Do you prefer print or electronic resources?

14. Dependence on Resources Used by FacultyN=574 • Respondents report that they are very dependent on electronic resources, especially e-mail, the World Wide Web and electronic databases sponsored by their own institution. • The electronic resource that is depended on the least by faculty is Listservs with 44.3% of respondents reporting that they are very or somewhat dependent. How dependent are you on the following for your academic or scholarly work?

15. Dependence on Resources by Type of InstitutionN=574 • When comparing dependence on different types of resources by type of institution the faculty belong to, a few differences emerged. Respondents from non-research colleges and universities were statistically more dependent on resources from other institutions whereas those from research universities were statistically more dependent on print holdings of their own institution. This is probably due to the fact that research universities tend to have more extensive library collections compared to other colleges and universities. As a result respondents from research universities may be able to obtain all of the materials they need from their own library whereas those from other types of institutions have to rely on the resources of other institutions for some of their information needs. How dependent are you on the following for your academic or scholarly work? All of the differences in means by discipline on this chart are statistically significant.

16. Faculty Dependence on Various Types of Web SitesN=574 Means 3.15 3.15 3.03 2.60 2.69 2.62 • Over three quarters of respondents report they are very or somewhat dependent on government websites (79%), their institution’s library portal (76.6%), and organizational websites (77.3%). Slightly over half of respondents were also very or somewhat dependent on online newspapers, journal websites and other University websites. How dependent are you on the following types of web sites for your academic or scholarly work?

17. Electronic Resources’ Affect on Work HabitsN=574 • Overall, there is an increased reliance on electronic resources, and an increased resistance to using other modes of information gathering, even when they can’t find what they want electronically. Eighty-six percent of respondents somewhat or strongly agree that they are becoming more and more dependent on electronic resources. This in turn is affecting their use of the physical library – more than ¾ of the sample say they use the physical library less than they would if they did not have access to electronic resources. Further, 40% somewhat or strongly agree that they would rather settle for what they can find online, even if it is not quite what they wanted, in order to save making the trip to the library. For 20.5% of our sample, the use of electronic resources has become so pervasive that they admit to rarely even looking beyond electronic resources for information. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement.

18. Perceived Benefits and Disadvantages of UsingElectronic Resources

19. Benefits of Electronic Resources--ConvenienceN=574 • Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement or disagreement with several statements about electronic resources. Statements that reflected the convenience aspect of electronic resources were typically rated with the strongest agreement. These included saving one time and effort, and allowing one to access materials from any location. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement.

20. Benefits of Electronic Resources—Improved Availability N=574 • Statements that focused on the increased availability of information as a result of electronic resources found slightly less agreement. In terms of improved availability of information, electronic resources are perceived as providing greater access to current information, graphics/images, and materials such as government documents and scientific databases than what is easily available in print. However, only 31% agree that they have greater access to older information. Further, only 28.7% strongly agree that materials become available quicker via electronic resources than they are available via print resources. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement.

21. Disadvantages of Electronic ResourcesN=574 • The largest problem with electronic resources is having to weed out the ‘garbage’ from the ‘goods’. Not only is it problematic that this must be done, but approximately half of our respondents report that they have difficulty making these assessments. When asked to specify how they evaluate electronic resources, 64% said they rely on the reputation of the provider, 28% rely on their own knowledge of the subject, and 19% rely on the peer review process. • In addition to the difficulty of evaluating electronic resources is the fact that electronic resources can result in an overload of information being made available. About 40% of our respondents report that having so much information available can be overwhelming for them. • Things that were less problematic for scholars were getting easily distracted and going on tangents while using online resources, and putting things off until the last minute. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement.

22. Benefits and Disadvantages by DisciplineN=574 • When comparing faculty by discipline, a few differences in perceived benefits and disadvantages of electronic resources emerge. International affairs scholars are more likely to feel that electronic resources save them time, make it possible for them to work remotely, give them greater access to older scholarly information, and that some materials which are not easily available in print are more readily available electronically. Types of materials that are more easily available online are foreign newspapers, working papers or policy briefs from think tanks and NGOs, and government documents. However, international affairs scholars are also more likely to think that too much information is available. • Earth and environmental scientists perceive electronic resources as giving them increased access to pictures and graphics and making material available quicker. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement below. All of the differences in means by discipline on this chart are statistically significant.

23. Benefits and Disadvantages by SeniorityN=845 • There were also some perceived differences in benefits and disadvantages between senior and junior faculty. Senior faculty are more likely to agree that they have trouble judging the quality of information available online, and that electronic resources increase the need to weed out reliable from unreliable information. Junior scholars might be better at identifying the sources of information (such as identifying information that is in the url, or better at tracking down the source of information). • Senior faculty are more likely to agree that electronic resources make some materials more readily available to them. They may be more aware of how things were before electronic resources were a viable way of obtaining information, so they have a better benchmark to compare the current state of affairs against. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement below All of the differences in means by seniority on this chart are statistically significant.

24. Important and Satisfied Ability to download Ability to print Currency of info Speed of sites Reputation of providers Text in PDF or other standard format Important and Not Satisfied Full text available Search capabilities Ease of Navigation Availability of older/archived information Ability to tell if peer reviewed • Respondents were first asked to rate the importance of various aspects of electronic resources, and then asked to rate their satisfaction with these aspects in the resources they use. Aspects of electronic resources which were important and satisfactory to respondents were the ability to download and print, the currency of information, the speed of sites, the reputation of providers, and text being available in PDF or other standard format. Items that were rated as important but were not satisfactory were having full text materials available, search capabilities of databases, navigation, the availability of older materials, and the ability to tell if material was peer reviewed.

25. Use of Electronic Resources for Research

26. Uses of Electronic Resources in ResearchN=236 • Of those who participate in research as part of their academic responsibilities, 236 were asked a series of questions regarding their use of electronic resources for research. The most common uses for electronic resources in research are to correspond with colleagues (96.8%) or to access a specific journal/paper/book (95.9%). What do you use electronic resources for in your research?

27. Positive Effects of Electronic Resources on ResearchN=236 Means 4.50 4.19 4.05 • Overall, researchers agree that electronic resources have aided in their research. • In particular, most researchers strongly or somewhat agree that electronic resources facilitate their ability to collaborate with faculty all over the world (89.2%) and make it easier to find materials outside their area of expertise (83.4%). This would indicate that the most influential aspect of electronic resources is their ability to broaden research horizons both with whom the research is conducted and with access to more materials. • When asked to specify how electronic resources affect their ability to collaborate with colleagues, respondents stated that email makes communication much easier so that the exchange of materials is quicker and it is easier to give and receive feedback. Electronic resources also facilitate the exchange of large documents or datasets through file transfer protocol (ftp). Further, several faculty mentioned that electronic resources aid them in finding colleagues with similar interest through websites or listservs. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the statements below.

28. Positive Effects on Research(cont’d)N=236 Means 3.68 3.86 3.42 • More than half of the researchers agreed that their research reaches a broader audience as a result of electronic resources and electronic resources increase their access to unpublished literature. Slightly less than half agree that electronic resources get their research into the public eye sooner than print resources. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the statements below.

29. Negative Effects of Electronic Resources on ResearchN=236 Mean 2.59 1.87 2.35 1.97 • The majority of respondents disagreed with all of the statements about negative effects of electronic resources. However, 24.4% strongly or somewhat agreed that the use of electronic resources cuts down on serendipitously finding information that would be useful and 17.2% strongly or somewhat agreed that they spend less time thinking or deliberating over material because the whole research process is sped up. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the statements below. Slide 2 of 2

30. Effects of Electronic Resources on Research by Discipline N=236 • There were a few differences by discipline in the perceived effects of electronic resources on the research process. Earth Science scholars are more likely to agree that they spend less time thinking or deliberating over material because the use of electronic resources speeds up the whole research process and that electronic resources make it easier to find materials that are outside their area of expertise. • International Affairs scholars are more likely to agree that electronic resources increase their access to unpublished (gray) literature. All of the differences in means by discipline on this chart are statistically significant. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the statements below.

31. Electronic Resources Affect Types of Research Projects Worked OnN=236 • Ninety-two percent of respondents report electronic resources have influenced the types of projects they have worked on. Ways in which electronic resources have affected types of projects worked on are by increasing facultys’ access to colleagues (77%), increasing access to information within their own field (63%), increasing access to data (59%), and increasing access to information in other fields (44%). • Earth Science scholars were statistically more likely to say that increased access to information in other fields allows them to work on interdisciplinary projects they otherwise would not be working on. Which of the following statements, if any, describe how electronic resources have affected the research projects you have worked on.

32. Electronic Resources Affect on the Quality of Research N=236 • Nearly all of the researchers believe electronic resources have had a positive affect on the quality of their research (96.9%). Overall, how positively or negatively have electronic resources affected the quality of your research?

33. Electronic Resources and Teaching

34. Uses of Electronic Resources for TeachingN=341 • Of those who teach as part of their academic responsibilities, 341 respondents were asked a series of questions regarding their use of electronic resources in their teaching. • Almost all (99.8%) of the teachers in our sample use electronic resources in some capacity for their teaching. Ninety-two percent direct their students to primary or supplementary materials online. • For lecture preparation, teachers go online to retrieve datasets, find current events information, or find images to use in their lectures. Many faculty also place course materials online through a course website or through reserve readings via the library. This gives students greater access to course materials such as syllabi, homework assignments and readings. In which of the following ways do you use electronic resources for teaching? Slide 1 of 2

35. Use of Electronic Resources for Teaching (cont’d)N=341 • Some teachers also use the online environment as a supplement to the classroom environment by incorporating online classroom programs into the course. For example, some teachers use the Blackboard course management program for it’s discussion board, where students can post comments on the class material. • Some teachers are even using online materials as a replacement for textbooks. In which of the following ways do you use electronic resources for teaching? Slide 2 of 2

36. Use of Electronic Resources for Teaching by DisciplineN=341 • There were some disciplinary differences in how electronic resources were used for teaching. International affairs scholars are more likely to direct students to primary or supplementary materials online, to use online classroom programs, and to go online to get current events information to help demonstrate ideas. • Earth and environmental scientists are more likely to go online to get images to help demonstrate ideas. In which of the following ways do you use electronic resources for teaching? All of the differences in percentages by discipline on this chart are statistically significant.

37. Effects of Electronic Resources on Teaching N=341 Means 4.38 4.02 3.69 • The majority of teachers agree that electronic resources have aided their teaching. Electronic resources were most useful to teachers in providing materials that they otherwise would not be able to incorporate into their class and providing materials that make it possible to assign projects that they wouldn’t have been able to assign in the past. Faculty also report that electronic resources save them time in class preparation. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement.

38. Electronic Resources Affect on the Quality of Teaching N=341 • The vast majority of respondents, (92.6%) believe that electronic resources have a positive effect on the quality of their teaching. Overall, how positively or negatively have electronic resources affected the quality of your teaching?

39. Faculty Perception ofElectronic Resources and Students

40. Electronic Resources & Students—BenefitsN=341 • Faculty believe the use of electronic resources has some benefits for students.The online availability of datasets, government documents, policy briefs, foreign newspapers, and working papers gives students easy access to materials they might otherwise have to forgo. This increased access in turn allows students to do projects they haven’t been able to do in the past. For example, online resources give students access to primary documents that they would otherwise need to access the libraries of foreign ministries or international organizations to obtain. Based on your experience with students’ homework or research papers/projects, please indicate how much you agree/disagree with each of the following statements.

41. Electronic Resources & Students—ProblemsN=341 • Despite the benefits, faculty also identify areas where students have difficulties with electronic resources. First, students have trouble evaluating information in the online environment. Traditionally, the library was the gatekeeper of information, however this is less true in an online environment. Unfortunately, many students do not have the experience or expertise to provide solid decision making about whether an online source is reliable or not. • A second problem noted by faculty is that students have a tendency to go no further than electronic resources. They tend to get most or all of their information off the Internet, while ignoring other valuable information that is available only in print form. Many faculty believe students use of electronic resources has resulted in them often not knowing how to use the library. • Plagiarism is another problem. Students will copy and paste material from a website directly into their paper – without seeming to realize this is plagiarism. Further, the quality of their work suffers because they cut and paste paragraphs from various sources together without fully analyzing and understanding the material. • Faculty also believe students spend less time deliberating over material. Students tend to wait until the last minute because they can easily access information via online resources. This cuts down on the amount of time an idea has to ‘percolate’ in their minds. Based on your experience with students’ homework or research papers/projects, please indicate how much you agree/disagree with each of the following statements.

42. Evaluation of Resources is Problematic for Students’ ScholarshipN=318 MEAN 3.16 • Students’ difficulty evaluating the quality of online information was the top problem faculty identified for students. Of those who agreed that students have difficulty evaluating the quality of online information, 92.8% thought this to be very or somewhat problematic for their students’ scholarship. • As the next few slides will show, very few institutions offer a course on evaluating electronic resources. However, many faculty members are taking class time to remedy this problem by instructing students on how to evaluate electronic resources. You ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ agreed with the statement that “Students have difficulty evaluating the quality of content of some online information. How problematic has this been for your student’s scholarship?

43. Availability of Courses Instructing Students How to Evaluate Electronic ResourcesN=341 • Only 12.0% of respondents reported that their institutions had a course that taught students how to evaluate electronic resources with an additional 27.9% unsure as to whether their institution offered a course. Still, the majority of respondents (52.9%) said their institution does not offer a course in the evaluation of electronic resources. • Of the respondents whose institutions did have some type of instruction on evaluating electronic resources, most were given through the library, information studies department, or a general freshman orientation course. Does your department or your institution have any mechanism set up that instructs students how to evaluate online information so that they are better able to distinguish what is reliable information and what is not?

44. Class Time Spent Instructing Students How to Evaluate Online InformationN=341 • When asked if they spent class time instructing students how to evaluate electronic resources, 71.3% of respondents answered yes. • Faculty members from doctoral/research universities were statistically less likely to instruct students in the evaluation of electronic resources (64.4%) compared to comprehensive (77.3%) and liberal arts colleges (76.8%). • International Affairs faculty members were statistically more likely to have instructed students in the evaluation of electronic resources (77.8%) compared to Earth/Environmental Science Scholars (64.8%). Do you spend any class time instructing students how to evaluate electronic resources?

45. The Effect of Electronic Resources on Overall Quality of Students’ Learning ExperienceN=341 MEAN4.01 • In spite of the problems that students have with electronic resources (such as difficulty evaluating what information is reliable and plagiarism), the majority of faculty members, (84.7%), believe that overall electronic resources have had a positive impact on the quality of students’ learning experience. Overall, how positively or negatively have electronic resources affected the quality of your student’s learning experience?

46. Conclusions • Electronic resources have become the main tool for scholars’ information gathering. • The electronic resources faculty are most dependent on are e-mail, the World Wide Web, and their own library’s electronic databases. • Electronic resources are seen as providing convenience more so than increased availability of information. • The main problem with electronic resources is having to separate out reliable from unreliable information. • Electronic resources affect the type of research projects faculty work on by increasing their access to colleagues, data, and information.

47. Conclusions (cont’d) • Electronic resources provide teachers with materials they otherwise wouldn’t be able to incorporate into the classroom, and make it possible to assign projects that students wouldn’t have been able to do in the past. • Most faculty believe students have an enhanced learning experience because of the information available through electronic resources. • Future efforts could focus on providing increased access to older and full text material, and improving search and navigation capabilities.