Aslib Proceedings 

About: Aslib Proceedings is an academic journal published by Emerald Publishing Limited. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Computer science & The Internet. It has an ISSN identifier of 0001-253X. Over the lifetime, 597 publications have been published receiving 12446 citations. The journal is also known as: Proceedings.

The digital native – myth and reality

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and promote a realistic understanding of young people and digital technology with a view to supporting information professionals in playing useful and meaningful roles in supporting current generations of young people. In particular the paper aims to offer a critical perspective on popular and political understandings of young people and digital technologies – characterised by notions of “digital natives”, the “net generation” and other commonsense portrayals of expert young technology users. The paper seeks to consider the accuracy of such descriptions in reflecting young people's actual uses of digital technology and digital information.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a comprehensive review of the recent published literatures on young people and digital technology in information sciences, education studies and media/communication studies.Findings – The findings show that young people's engagements with digital technologies are varied and...

The Google generation: the information behaviour of the researcher of the future

Abstract: Purpose – This article is an edited version of a report commissioned by the British Library and JISC to identify how the specialist researchers of the future (those born after 1993) are likely to access and interact with digital resources in five to ten years' time. The purpose is to investigate the impact of digital transition on the information behaviour of the Google Generation and to guide library and information services to anticipate and react to any new or emerging behaviours in the most effective way.Design/methodology/approach – The study was virtually longitudinal and is based on a number of extensive reviews of related literature, survey data mining and a deep log analysis of a British Library and a JISC web site intended for younger people.Findings – The study shows that much of the impact of ICTs on the young has been overestimated. The study claims that although young people demonstrate an apparent ease and familiarity with computers, they rely heavily on search engines, view rather than rea...

Electronic journals and changes in scholarly article seeking and reading patterns

Abstract: Purpose – By tracking the information‐seeking and reading patterns of science, technology, medical and social science faculty members from 1977 to the present, this paper seeks to examine how faculty members locate, obtain, read, and use scholarly articles and how this has changed with the widespread availability of electronic journals and journal alternativesDesign/methodology/approach – Data were gathered using questionnaire surveys of university faculty and other researchers periodically since 1977 Many questions used the critical incident of the last article reading to allow analysis of the characteristics of readings in addition to characteristics of readersFindings – The paper finds that the average number of readings per year per science faculty member continues to increase, while the average time spent per reading is decreasing Electronic articles now account for the majority of readings, though most readings are still printed on paper for final reading Scientists report reading a higher prop

Is google enough? comparison of an internet search engine with academic library resources

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of the study was to compare an internet search engine, Google, with appropriate library databases and systems, in order to assess the relative value, strengths and weaknesses of the two sorts of system.Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach was used, with detailed analysis and failure checking of results. The performance of the two systems was assessed in terms of coverage, unique records, precision, and quality and accessibility of results. A novel form of relevance assessment, based on the work of Saracevic and others was devised.Findings – Google is superior for coverage and accessibility. Library systems are superior for quality of results. Precision is similar for both systems. Good coverage requires use of both, as both have many unique items. Improving the skills of the searcher is likely to give better results from the library systems, but not from Google.Research limitations/implications – Only four case studies were included. These were limited to the kind of q...

What do faculty and students really think about e‐books?

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this article is to report on a large-scale survey that was carried Out to assess academic users' awareness, perceptions and existing levels of use of e-books. The survey also seeks to find out about the purposes to which electronic books were put, and to obtain an understanding of the most effective library marketing and communication channels.Design/methodology/approach - An e-mail invitation to participate in the survey was distributed to all UCL staff and students (approximately 27,000) in November 2006, and 1,818 completions were received, an effective response rate of at least 6.7 per cent. Statistical analyses were carried out on the data using Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).Findings - The survey findings point to various ways in which user uptake and acceptance of e-books may be encouraged. Book discovery behaviour, a key issue for publishers and librarians in both print and electronic environments, emerges as a critical focus for service delivery and enhancement.Originality/value - The survey is part of an action research project, CIBER's SuperBook, that will further investigate the issues raised in this initial benchmarking survey using deep log analysis and qualitative methods. The paper partly fills the gap in the literature on e-books which has mainly focused on usage and not the users.