Scholarly Use of Internet-Based Electronic Resources

The longitudinal analysis of e-source citations shows that there has been a notable increase in the number and proportion of authors who cite e-sources in their research papers over the past eight years, although at the time of this study, e-sources were still cited much less frequently than print sources. This result provides empirical evidence that e-sources are increasingly used among scholars. Complementing the citation data, the results from the author survey show that e-sources are becoming an important component in scholars' research and are serving a wide range of purposes and functions. The number of access points and self-perceived overall ability to use the Internet are identified as the two significant variables affecting frequency of e-source use. Scholars with more access points to e-sources or with a higher self-perceived overall ability to use the Internet tend to use e-sources more frequently. The results of this study also suggest that a limited number of criteria can be implemented in practice for scholars to evaluate electronic sources and systems. When citing e-sources, scholars consider some factors that are unique to e-sources in addition to the factors they consider for print sources. While the advantages of e-sources promote citing, some drawbacks of e-sources at this stage serve as a barrier. The survey of editors reveals a lack of clearly stated editorial policies regarding citing e-sources. The major problems and concerns reported by scholars regarding using e-sources are summarized. The theoretical implications and practical applications of the findings are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Library and Information Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Yin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Estabrook, Leigh S.

• Information Science

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9953186

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/81567