Awareness and Use Patterns of Online Journals and Databases: A Study of P K Kelkar Library IIT Kanpur

Abstract

Objective: The present study sought to determine use of online journals and databases and to assess current user characteristics associated with use of online resources at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IITK) P. K. Kelkar Library.

Methodology: The study is based on questionnaire method. A questionnaire was distributed among the faculty members, research scholars, and postgraduate students to collect desired data.

Findings: A total of 240 questionnaires were distributed to the selected sample for the session 2010-11; 160 valid samples were collected. The result showed a growing interest in online journals among the users at IITK P. K. Library. The survey found that the majority of the respondents of IITK P. K. Library showed key interest in use of various databases like Science Direct, Web of Science, IEEE/IEE/IEL Online and the others for various purposes. Awareness among the users about the availability of online journals was found satisfactory. Online journals were mostly used for research needs and PDF was the most preferred format. There are many factors that may affect the use of scholarly online journals