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Communication Patterns of Engineers. Carol Tenopir ctenopir@utk.edu. Engineers are different!. 4 Main Questions. How do engineers communicate in their work?. 2) How much do engineers read scholarly journals?. 3) Is there a pattern of the users of electronic vs. print?.
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Communication Patterns of Engineers Carol Tenopir ctenopir@utk.edu
4MainQuestions • How do engineers communicate in their work? 2) How much do engineers read scholarly journals? 3) Is there a pattern of the users of electronic vs. print? 4) How do engineers compare with other disciplines?
Data From: • 20,000+ scientists, engineers, and social scientists • 1977 to the present • More than 100 university and non-university settings
TypesofData • Demographic • Estimates of behavior • Details of “last” reading
More Details in: • Tenopir and King, Communication Patterns of Engineers. IEEE/Wiley InterScience, 2004 • Tenopir and King, Towards Electronic Journals: Realities for Scientists, Librarians, and Publishers. SLA, 2000.
Professionals’ Communication Cycle AUDIENCE/READERS EXTERNAL INTERNAL Quantities Effort INFORMATION OUTPUT/SENDING INFORMATION INPUT/RECEIVING Effort Quantities WORK ACTIVITIES: RESEARCH, ADMINISTRATION, MARKETING, ETC.
Proportions of Instances Channels outside company 63 33 Channels within company
Proportion of instances Engineers Scientists
Scholarly articles • From a print or electronic journal • “Separates” (eprints, preprints, from colleague, ILL, web site, etc.)
Average Time Spent and Number of Articles Read Per Year Per Scientist
Scholarly Article Reading Updated June 2004
Principal Purpose of Reading by Engineering Faculty 23.8% 6.3% 17.5% 4.8% 1.6% 58.7% 4.8%
Principal Purpose for Reading by ORNL Engineers 21.4% 10.7% 25.0% 7.1% 32.1% 3.6%
Article Readings By Engineers Personal subscription Separate copies 17.9% 21.4% 35.7% 32.1% 50.0% 42.9% Library collection Universities ORNL
Sources of Readings Separates Separates Personal 15.6% Library 15% 22.1% 36% Personal 62.3% Library 49% Astronomers MedicalFaculty
Separate copies Preprint-electronic 7% Review copy 13% Reprint 13% ILL/ Doc. Dev 20% Review copy 40% Another person 60% Another person 47% Universities ORNL
Library Collection Readings By Engineers Electronic 36% Print 37% Electronic 63% Print 64% Universities ORNL
Personal Subscriptions Electronic 12 % Electronic 44% Print 56% Print 88% ORNL Universities
PrintorElectronic? Print 20% Electronic 25% Electronic 80% Print 75% Astronomers MedicalFaculty
Means of Learning About Articles Read 20.8% 21% 32.3% 37% 50% 16.9% 62.3% 39% 17.6 EngineeringFaculty MedicalFaculty Astronomers
Searching by Engineers 8.3% 8.3% 33.3% 83.3% 66.7% Universities ORNL
Browsing By Engineers 2.9% 23.5% 30.7% 46.6% 61.8% 11.8% 23.1% Universities ORNL
Age of Articles Reading by University and ORNL Engineers by the Age of Articles Read: 2000-2003
Age of Articles Read Over Time 1 years 2-5 years 6-15 years >15 years
Summary of Communication Patterns of Engineers • Engineers rely more on internal information sources • Scientists read more scholarly articles • Engineers spend more time on each reading • Engineers use many ways to locate information—browse more and rely on colleagues more • Engineers read articles for research; other things for other purposes