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An evaluation program investigates the effects of online electronic resources on different aspects of the scholarly communication process. The program examines the perspectives of publishers, information technology, librarians, faculty, and students.
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EPIC Online Publishing Use and Costs Evaluation Program:Summary Report
Purpose of EPIC Evaluation Program • To investigate how online electronic resources affect different aspects of the scholarly communication process. • a) general perspective • b) through lens of EPIC projects
How Does the Shift to Electronic Resources Affect the Following Groups? • Publishers • Information Technology • Librarians • Faculty • Students
Research Projects • Librarian Focus Group • Faculty Interviews • Student Interviews • Librarian Online Survey (1007 respondents) • Faculty Online Survey (845 respondents) • Student Online Survey (1233 respondents) • http://www.epic.columbia.edu/eval/
Librarians: Changes in Library Staffing, Responsibilities, and Skills
Staffing • 64% of librarians report that additional staff have been added: • IT staff (48%) • Webmaster (38%) • Site licensing specialists (12%) • Data management librarian (7%)
New Responsibilities • Instructing users in use of electronic resources (91%) • Reviewing/evaluating/ electronic resources for purchase (80%) • Recommend for purchase (78%) • Evaluate usage (50%) • Make retention decisions (50%) • Review license agreements (22%)
New Job Skills • When asked to list out new skills needed, respondents mentioned: • Overall knowledge of computers and software • Web development/programming • Computer search skills • Database knowledge • Troubleshooting skills • Decision making skills for purchase of new electronic resources
Faculty and Students:Changes in Teaching, Research, and Learning
Teaching • 99.8% use electronic resources in some capacity for teaching • Enhanced lectures/course assignments: • Use of current events information (81%) • Use of real data for examples or assignments (85%) • Use of Internet during class to demonstrate with interactive graphics (Flash) or applets (70%)
Teaching (cont’) • Supplementary teaching tools: • Use of online information as primary or secondary course material (92%) • Use of Learning Management Environments (35%) • Administrative aid: • Course website (61%)
Research • 92% report electronic resources have affected the type of projects they work on • Affects types of projects worked on: • Increased access to colleagues from around the world within and outside their area of expertise (77%) • Increased access to information in own field (63%) • Increased access to data (59%) • Increased access to information outside area of expertise which allows work on interdisciplinary projects (44%)
Research (cont’) • Affects productivity and audience reached: • Increases scholarly productivity (75%) • Research reaches a broader audience (59%) • Research gets out into the public eye sooner (48%)
Learning • Benefits reaped: • Ability to do projects they couldn’t have done in the past (F: 85%, S: 73%) • Challenges faced: • Get overloaded with information (S: 57%) • Have difficulty judging the quality of information • (F: 93%, S: 51%) • Plagiarism (F: 87%, S: 48%)
Learning (cont’) • Work habits: • Tend to go no further than electronic resources • (F: 91%, S: 55%) • Students don’t learn how to use physical library (F: 89%, S: 23%)
Change in Role of Library • Physical spaces other than the library are taking on important roles in research, teaching, and learning • Physical library used more for its’ study space than for its’ academic resources • Lack of organized instruction for remote users • Loss of library control over the quality of material that reaches users
Change in Information that Reaches Users • Availability of information that users might otherwise not have • Increased use of non-library sponsored materials • Too much information • Not all information is good information (lack of quality control)
Change In Faculty/StudentWork Habits • When, where, and what they use: • Work any time of day or night • Work from locations other than a campus facility • Often don’t go beyond electronic resources
Change in Interactions • Between Faculty and Students: • Use of Learning Management Environments • Use of e-mail • Among Faculty: • Increased contact with colleagues outside one’s institution • Virtual conferences • Virtual research teams
Critical Areas for Further Research • Library and publishing strategies that acknowledge faculty and student use of Google as the first stop for research. • Future role of libraries as physical and virtual spaces for research and learning • Need for new functionality in electronic resources to satisfy new user expectations.
Christina NormanResearch DirectorThe Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC)cn2005@columbia.eduhttp://www.epic.columbia.edu/eval