Center for Information and Communication Studies
Scholarly Reading in a Digital Age: Some things change, some stay the same
Carol TenopirUniversity of Tennessee
NFAIS WorkshopJune 15, 2012
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First some background
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1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
12.88 16.25 19.625.02 31.33
37.46 40.9346.55 51.46
56.33
Kyrillidou, M. & Morris, S. (Editors). ARL Statistics 2008-2009. Association of Research Libraries: Washington D. C. 2011, p. 20-21.
Electronic resources expenditures as a percent of total materials expenditures
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University of Tennessee-Knoxville Downloads
FY04-05 FY05-06 FY06-07 FY07-08 FY08-09 FY09-10 FY10-110
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,000,000
4,500,000
5,000,000
1,336,639 1,481,040
1,969,350 1,946,883
2,558,722
4,496,5164,303,739
UTK Article Downloads
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•6 universities in the UK (scholarly reading)• Over 2000 academic staff responses• Report published February 2012
•University of Illinois (scholarly reading)• Final data (As of 4/2012, ~700 responses)• New surveys at US and Australian universities
Highlights from studies of:
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Reading and scholarship surveys (Tenopir & King, 1977-present)
Measure purpose, outcome, and value from scholarly reading by focusing on critical incident of last reading
Include all reading (from library and not) Details on how and where readings are discovered
and obtained Details on format and location of reading
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Tenopir & King scholarly reading studies, 4 types of questions:
1.Demographic
2.Recollection
3.Critical Incident
4.Comments
Therefore, insights into
both READERS and READINGS
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The following questions in this section refer to the SCHOLARLY ARTICLE YOU READ MOST RECENTLY, even if you had read it previously. Note that this last reading may not be typical, but will help us establish the range of patterns in reading.
Critical incident of last reading
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The following questions in this section refer to the BOOK FROM WHICH YOU READ MOST RECENTLY, even if you had read it previously. Note that this last reading may not be typical, but will help us establish the range of patterns in reading.
Critical incident of last reading
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The following questions in this section refer to the OTHER PUBLICATION YOU READ MOST RECENTLY, even if you had read it previously. Note that this last reading may not be typical, but will help us establish the range of patterns in reading.
Critical incident of last reading
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1. Scholarly reading is essential to academic work.
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Academics read a lot of material
Other Publication
Book
Article
0 5 10 15 20 25
7
6
22
10
7
22
UKUIUC
n=2117, 6 UK institutions, June 2011n=679 UIUC, April, 2012
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Article readings 1977 to present by scientists and social scientists
1977 1984 1993 2000-2003 2005 2011-20120
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
150171
188
216
280 288
*
*2011-2012 (UIUC) n=639, (UK),n=1013; 2005,n=932; 2000-03, n=397; 1993, n=70;
1984, n=865; 1977, n=2350
Rea
ding
s pe
r ye
ar
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Research & writing is the most likely principal purpose of reading
n=2117, 6 UK universities, June 2011
Article Readings Book Readings Other Publication Readings
74%
58%45%
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n=2117, 6 UK institutions, June 2011
And academics spend a lot of time per reading
•49 minutes per article reading
•1 hour and 46 minutes per book reading
•42 minutes per other publication reading
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Time spent (exchange value) reading
•Article• 49 min/article X 22 read per month X 12 months =
216 hours
•Book• 106 min/book X 7 per month X 12 months=
148 hours
•Other Publication• 42 min/publication X 10 per month X 12 months=
84 hours
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2. E-journal collections are making a difference.
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Use of electronic sources: 2005
Print46%
Elec-tronic54%
n=1105, 5 US universities 2005
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Did you obtain the article from a print or electronic source?
U.S (2012) U.K (2011)
n=1163
Print12%
Electronic88%
Print22%
Electronic78%
n=639
UIUC: April 2012, UK: June 2011
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Print10%
Electronic90%
US, 2012
Use of library collections for articles
Print6%
Electronic94%
UK, 2011
n=775
UK: 6 UK universities June 2011UIUC: April 2012
n=639
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Format of last article reading
From Print82%
Computer Screen
18%
US, 2005
n=923
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Format of last article reading
From Print55%
Com-puter
Screen45%
UK, 2011
n=1163
From Print48%
Com-puter
Screen52%
UIUC, 2012
N=639
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3. The library plays an important role in academic
work and success.
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Where academics are obtaining articles:
Library Website Personal Colleague Other0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
67
14
5 6 8
56
1511
8 10
UKUIUC
UK, n=1189, June 2011; UIUC, n=639 April 2012
Per
cent
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Office, Lab62%
Home26%
Travelling10%
Library2%
n=764, 6 UK universities, June 2011
Just because they read from library collections (library collections
only)…
Office/lab73%
Home21%
Library3%
Other3%
UIUC, 2012
n=248, UIUC April, 2012
UK, 2011
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Year of publication of library articles
Pe
rce
nt
of A
rtic
le R
ea
din
gs
Before 1996
1996-2000 2001-2005 2006-2009 2010-20110
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Personal Subscrip-tion
Library Subscription
Other
n=1131 6 UK universities, June 2011
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Year of publication of library-provided articles
> 15 yrs13%
15 ~ 11 yrs7%
10 ~ 6 yrs14%
5 ~ 2 yrs21%
< 2 yrs45%
n=1131 6 UK universities, June 2011
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Library-provided articles are considered more important
Absol
utel
y Ess
entia
l
Very
Impo
rtant
Impo
rtant
Somew
hat I
mpo
rtant
Not A
t All I
mpo
rtant
05
101520253035404550
14
27 2831
0
11
22
32 33
2
Library-Provided
Other Source
n=2117, 6 UK universities, June 2011
Per
cen
t
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Academics praise the library for its long-term outcomes
Electronic access to the university library system from off-site is crucial for swift access to articles to support my teaching and research activities.
Library resources have been essential to my work for the past 20 years.
The journal collection at my institution is excellent and scholarship is all the richer for the contribution for easy access to journals and print publications.
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4. Book reading is different from article reading.
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Percent of readings from e-books
Purchased Library Colleague Publisher Other0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100% 4 5 010
47
ElectronicPrintP
erce
nt
n=202, UIUC, April, 2012
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The library is the source of scholarly articles, not books
Article Reading Book Reading Other Publication Reading
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
67
27
15% li
brar
y-pr
ovid
ed
n=2117, 6 UK universities, June 2011
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The library book collection supports younger academics
Under 30
31 ~ 50
Over 50
40
26
24
%
libra
ry-p
rovi
ded
n=2117, 6 UK universities, June 2011
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5. Successful academics read more.
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Award-winning academics read more
Did not receive an award
Received an award0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
23
30
799
14Article ReadingsBook ReadingsOther Publication Read-ings
Per
Mon
th
n=2117, 6 UK universities, June 2011
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Prolific academics read more
0 ~ 2 3 ~ 10 11+0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2023
30
69
7810
12
Article ReadingsBook ReadingsOther Publication Read-ingsP
er M
onth
n=2117, 6 UK universities, June 2011
# of publications in last 2 yrs.
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Library-provided articles support prolific academics
0 ~ 2 3 ~ 10 11+0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
62
71 72
4 4 6
34
25 22
Library ProvidedPersonal SourceOtherP
erce
nt
# of publications in last 2 yrs.n=900, 6 UK universities, June 2011
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•Has won an award in the last two years.
•Publishes four or more items per year.
•Reads more of every type of material.
•Spends more time per book and other publication readings.
•Uses the library for articles
•More often buys books and obtains other publications from the Internet.
•Occasionally participates and creates social media content.
What a ‘successful’ academic looks like:
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Moving forward…
• Scholarly e-books, will reading patterns change?
• Library role in open access?• More scholarly materials designed
for more mobile devices• Can increase in reading continue?
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Carol [email protected]
http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu
