The impact of electronic resources on humanities graduate student theses
| Date | 22 June 2010 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684521011054071 |
| Published date | 22 June 2010 |
| Pages | 457-472 |
| Author | Ming‐der Wu,Shih‐chuan Chen |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
The impact of electronic
resources on humanities graduate
student theses
Ming-der Wu and Shih-chuan Chen
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to answer the following questions about humanities graduate students:
what are the characteristics of the documents cited in their theses? Where and how do they obtain
those citations? Do students use and cite electronic resources? Do students favour electronic resources
over paper versions?
Design/methodology/approach – The study’s participants were 20 humanities graduate students.
Following an analysis of the citations in their theses, list-checking and follow-up interviews were
conducted.
Findings – The results showed that these humanities graduate students cited considerably more
print materials than electronic resources. Most of the documents cited were supplied by the university
library. Only a small proportion of the documents were available in electronic format either from the
university library or from the internet. The availability ratio of journals was higher than that of books.
Students’ acceptance of e-journals was higher than that of e-books.
Originality/value – The findings of the study could help researchers and librarians gain a better
understanding of how humanities graduate students use electronic resources.
Keywords Graduates, Information research, University libraries
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In recent years, university libraries have required considerable financial resource s in
building electronic collections. Some libraries have cancelled print journal
subscriptions and reduced the number of books purchased. Meanwhile e-book
databases (which include both current and old monographs) have increased their
market share. Google Scholar, which integrates documents from various sources
including library holdings, has been a favoured entryway for many people searching
for academic information. Convenience and easy access to electronic resources play a
key role in changing information-gathering behaviour.
Past studies have shown that people searching for information prefer to use Google
rather than to visit the library. To combat growing concern about the demise of the
library, university libraries must demonstrate that their investment in el ectronic
collections is worthwhile. George et al. (2006) concluded that even though graduate
students heavily use internet resources, the university library remains a key element in
their research process. Tenopir’s (2003) summary of research studies indicated that
electronic library resources were both used and favoured by professors and students
alike, and they perceived the electronic format as convenient and time saving.
Compared with undergraduate students, graduate students use more electronic
resources. Sutton and Jacoby (2008, p. 1) found that graduate students “depend heavily
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Impact of ER on
student theses
457
Refereed article received
12 August 2009
Approved for publication
24 January 2010
Online Information Review
Vol. 34 No. 3, 2010
pp. 457-472
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684521011054071
on library collections and generally prefer to access materials online”. Additionally
information behaviour and use patterns may vary among disciplines (Littman and
Connaway, 2004; Vakkari and Talja, 2006; Gardiner et al., 2006; Levine-Clark, 2007).
Scholars in the humanities were regarded as low-level users of e-journals and
databases (Talja and Maula, 2003). However increased availability of electronic
resources in the field of humanities may alter this impression. For example
Levine-Clark (2007) pointed out that humanities students understood the libra ries’
e-book services better than students from other disciplines.
Past studies have employed questionnaires and interviews to investigate graduate
students’ electronic resources usage. The analysis of citations used in graduate theses
may reveal the characteristics of resources used, including the electronic format.
Specifically this study aims to answer the following questions about humanities
graduate students: What are the characteristics of the documents cited in their theses?
Where and how do they obtain those citations? Do students use and cite electronic
resources? Do students favour electronic resources over paper versions?
Literature review
American university libraries have reported a growth in expenditure on electronic
resources (Case, 2005; Gallagher et al., 2005). It is common for university libraries to
gradually cancel print journal subscriptions in order to build larger e-journal
collections. Prabha (2007) found that from 2002 to 2006, ARL members’ print journal
subscriptions decreased 32 per cent while e-journal subscriptions increased 34 per cent.
In Taiwan’s university libraries, spending on electronic resources increased from 30.01
per cent of a library’s budget for materials in 2005 to 35.76 per cent in 2007. Since 2006
the National Science Council has funded a programme of purchasing nationally
licensed e-book databases in the humanities and social science fields (Huang, 2008 ).
There has since been a notable increase in the amount of electronic collections in
Taiwanese university libraries.
Electronic resources have changed scholars’ information behaviour. Liew et al.
(2000) indicated that most graduate students preferred to use e-journals over print
journals. Students mentioned that e-journals’ advantages included hyperlinks to
additional sources, search facilities, current documents, around-the-clock availability,
and user-friendliness. Siebenberg et al. (2004) indicated that both faculty and students
heavily used e-journals; simultaneously however, their use of paper journals also
increased. Newby (2005) found that professors and graduate students liked to use
e-journals because they were convenient to access. A survey by Hemminger et al. (2007)
found that the overwhelming majority (97 per cent) of university science researchers
preferred to use electronic databases and journals to search for information. It would be
an oversimplification to merely state that the growth of libraries’ electronic collections
reflects the decline of print materials. Analysing the use studies of e-journals,
Rowlands (2007, p. 31) concluded that “print-based and electronic systems are used for
different purposes and at different times in the information-seeking cycle”. On
surveying graduate students’ preferences and usage, Liu (2006) concluded that a
hybrid information environment was most desired. Electronic and print resources both
have advantages and limitations and meet different needs of users.
Theses are the ultimate research outputs of graduate students. Buzzard and New
(1983) stated that citation analysis is a valuable approach for evaluating a university
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