Changes in Scholarly Reading in Finland Over a Decade: Influences of E-Journals and Social Media (original) (raw)
Related papers
Scholarly communication and possible changes in the context of social media: a Finnish case study
Purpose – The focus of this paper is to study the influence of social media on scholarly communication. The aim is to provide an overview of researchers’ use of Web 2.0 techniques, and discuss a possible change of information behaviors in the context of scholarly communication. Design/methodology/approach – A web survey was distributed to a targeted sample of university staff (professors, teachers, researchers, and doctoral students). SPSS was utilized as a main tool to synthesize and analyze data, and present the results. Findings – Web 2.0 tools are well-known to researchers. Most researchers are familiar with blogs, wikis, social networks, multimedia sharing, and online document. Social media provide a convenient environment for scholarly communication. Depending on different aims within the scholarly communication process, researchers choose appropriate modes of communication in their research work. Research limitations/implications – A combination of content analysis with survey and/or interviews may highlight other aspects of Web 2.0, which is not possible using a single method of content analysis. Originality/value – There are few studies on the changes of scholarly communication in the context of Web 2.0. This study provides new insights for exploring the effects of Web 2.0 tools on scholarly communication and the development of new information behavior to match the scholarly environment of social media. of social media. This understanding can aid the researchers to keep abreast of new characteristics of scholarly communication and help the librarians to develop the correlative services in the scholarly environment of social media.
Learned Publishing, 2015
Electronic journals are now the norm for accessing and reading scholarly articles. This article examines scholarly article reading patterns by faculty in five US universities in 2012. Selected findings are also compared to some general trends from studies conducted periodically since 1977. In the 2012 survey, over threequarters (76%) of the scholarly readings were obtained through electronic means and just over half (51%) of readings were read on a screen rather than from a print source or being printed out. Readings from library sources are overwhelmingly from e-sources. The average number of articles read per month was 20.66, with most articles read by the medical and other sciences, and on average each article was read for 32 minutes.
Libri, 2019
Results of an online survey distributed to faculty, PhD students, and researchers throughout Finland in 2016 show that library resources, journal articles, and books are important parts of scholars' research and work life. The survey was disseminated through FinELib to heads of libraries, who were then asked to distribute it to their academic staff, researchers, and PhD students. The purpose of this study was to examine the value of readings obtained from library collections. To help answer this question, participants were asked about the amount and value of their reading and where they obtained readings, which allowed comparison of how the value of the library collection differs from other sources. The study found that researchers use many ways to identify and obtain articles, and the library collection is identified as one important source. Scholars use the library's collection mostly to obtain articles for research and those articles help to inspire new ideas. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of access to scholarly publications for scholars, from the library and elsewhere, such as open access sites and research sharing platforms.
Anatomy of Scholarly Information Behavior Patterns in the Wake of Social Media
ArXiv, 2016
As more scholarly content is being born digital or digitized, digital libraries are becoming increasingly vital to researchers leveraging scholarly big data for scientific discovery. Given the abundance of scholarly products-especially in environments created by the advent of social networking services-little is known about international scholarly information needs, information-seeking behavior, or information use. This paper aims to address these gaps by conducting an in-depth analysis of researchers in the United States and Qatar; learn about their research attitudes, practices, tactics, strategies, and expectations; and address the obstacles faced during research endeavors. Based on this analysis, the study identifies and describes new behavior patterns on the part of researchers as they engage in the information-seeking process. The analysis reveals that the use of academic social networks has remarkable effects on various scholarly activities. Further, this study identifies dif...
Reading practices in scholarly work: from articles and books to blogs
Journal of Documentation, 2019
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of reading in scholarly work among academics in Finland. This study analyzes readings from a variety of publication types including books, conference proceedings, research reports, magazines, newspapers, blogs, non-fiction and fiction. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was developed and distributed in Finland in 2016–2017 (n=528). Participants were asked their finding and use of scholarly information resources of all types. Findings Scholars read from a variety of publications. Different types of publications are read and used differently. Reading also varies between disciplines, ranks, work responsibilities and type of research performed. Research limitations/implications The study was a nationwide study of researchers in Finland; therefore, all findings are within the context of researchers in a single country. All results are self-reported; therefore, the authors assume but cannot be sure that respondents accurat...
Journal of Documentation, 2019
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of reading in scholarly work among academics in Finland. This study analyzes readings from a variety of publication types including books, conference proceedings, research reports, magazines, newspapers, blogs, non-fiction and fiction. Design/methodology/approach-An online survey was developed and distributed in Finland in 2016-2017 (n ¼ 528). Participants were asked their finding and use of scholarly information resources of all types. Findings-Scholars read from a variety of publications. Different types of publications are read and used differently. Reading also varies between disciplines, ranks, work responsibilities and type of research performed. Research limitations/implications-The study was a nationwide study of researchers in Finland; therefore, all findings are within the context of researchers in a single country. All results are self-reported; therefore, the authors assume but cannot be sure that respondents accurately recollect the specifics of their use of scholarly information. Practical implications-The results of this study are relevant to publishers, research librarians, editors and others who serve consumers of scholarly information resources, design information products and services for those scholars, and seek to better understand the information needs and use of a variety of types of scholarly publications. Originality/value-This study replicates previous studies in a variety of countries and provides a more up-to-date and single-country contextualized overview of how researchers find and use scholarly information in their work.
European Survey on Scholarly Practices and Digital Needs in the Human Sciences
2019
This multi-authored report summarizes the results from a transnational questionnaire survey conducted in 2015 by a research team within the DARIAH-EU Digital Methods and Practices Observatory Working Group (DiMPO). The Introduction offers a background to the study in the context of digital humanities work and scholarly practices research. Chapter 1 introduces the methodology, methods, and research design of the study. Chapter 2 presents and discusses the descriptive statistical results of analysing the full dataset of 2,177 valid responses of researchers who reside in Europe and identify one of the human sciences as their primary discipline. It summarises respondent profiles, and findings related to use of research materials and digital access, digitally-enabled scholarly activities, methods and tools, digital publication and dissemination of research results, use of software and services, and respondent assessment of digital needs. Chapters 3 to 9 present a similar analysis for respondents from European countries that have yielded more than 100 valid responses, in the form of national profiles for Austria (Chapter 3), Finland (Chapter 4), Greece (Chapter 5), Lithuania (Chapter 6), Poland (Chapter 7), Serbia (Chapter 8), and Switzerland (Chapter 9). Finally, the study questionnaire is included as an Appendix. The report will hopefully provide a useful baseline for further, timely longitudinal research on the shifting practices and needs of European digitally-enabled researchers in the human sciences.
Publications, 2019
While journal articles are still considered the most important sources of scholarly reading, libraries may no longer have a monopoly on providing discovery and access. Many other sources of scholarly information are available to readers. This international study examines how researchers discover, read, and use scholarly literature for their work. Respondents in 2018 report an average of almost 20 article readings a month and there are still significant differences found in the reading and use of scholarly literature by discipline and geographical location, consistent with the earlier studies. Researchers show they are willing to change or adopt new strategies to discover and obtain articles.
Benefits and Outcomes of Library Collections on Scholarly Reading in Finland
Libri, 2019
Results of an online survey distributed to faculty, PhD students, and researchers throughout Finland in 2016 show that library resources, journal articles, and books are important parts of scholars’ research and work life. The survey was disseminated through FinELib to heads of libraries, who were then asked to distribute it to their academic staff, researchers, and PhD students. The purpose of this study was to examine the value of readings obtained from library collections. To help answer this question, participants were asked about the amount and value of their reading and where they obtained readings, which allowed comparison of how the value of the library collection differs from other sources. The study found that researchers use many ways to identify and obtain articles, and the library collection is identified as one important source. Scholars use the library’s collection mostly to obtain articles for research and those articles help to inspire new ideas. Overall, this study...