Ithaka S+R | Jisc | RLUK
UK Survey of Academics 2012
Roger C. Schonfeld
@rschon | [email protected]
May 20, 2013
The Report
Available at:
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-
publications/ithaka-sr-jisc-rluk-uk-
survey-academics-2012
Twitter:
#Survey2012
@rschon
@IthakaSR
• Population included faculty members at UK higher education
institutions, covering all key fields except agriculture.
• In November 2012, a total of 45,809 academics were invited
and then reminded to participate via email from Rachel Bruce
and David Prosser
• By January 2013, 3,498 responses were received (response
rate: 7.9%), overall representative of the population
• Because the populations differ, it will be several more weeks
before we are prepared to offer analysis of how the UK
and US findings compare
Methodology
• Authors and readers
• Changing library roles
• Disciplines and universities matter
Three intersecting stories
Important consideration: freely available online
“When you think about the journal articles and monographs that
you routinely use–for research as well as teaching–how important
are each of the following sources?” Percent of respondents
indicating that the following sources are very important.
Access Sources
Figure 20
“When you want a monograph or journal article that you do not
have immediate access to through your college or university
library’s physical or digital collections, how often do you use each
of the following methods to seek access to that material–often,
occasionally, rarely, or never?” Percent responding that they use
the following methods “often” or “occasionally.”
Non-Library Access
Figure 22
How important to you is it that your college or university library provide
each of the functions below?
• Gateway: “The library serves as a starting point or “gateway” for
locating information for my research”
• Buyer: “The library pays for resources I need, from academic
journals to books to electronic databases”
• Repository: “The library serves as a repository of resources; in other
words, it archives, preserves, and keeps track of resources”
• Teaching Facilitator: “The library supports and facilitates my
teaching activities”
• Research Supporter: “The library provides active support that helps
to increase the productivity of my research”
• Undergraduate Information Literacy Teacher: “The library helps
undergraduates develop research, critical analysis, and information
literacy skills”
The Role of the Library
Priorities differ, by institutional type
Perceptions of librarians with content online
“Because faculty have easy access to academic content
online, the role librarians play at this institution is becoming
much less important.”
“Because scholarly material is available electronically,
universities should redirect the money spent on library
buildings and staff to other needs.”
Scientists especially devalue librarians
Discussion
• Authors and readers: how to align their practices?
• Changing library roles: what will be our new portfolio?
• Disciplines and universities matter:
• how can libraries serve scientists?
• how to balance research and teaching support needs?
Three intersecting stories
Traditional publisher-provided services
Publishing-support services
Open access services
Publishing roles and services