ELECTRONIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND RESOURCES - USE BY UNIVERSITY-FACULTY AND FACULTY PREFERENCES FOR RELATED LIBRARY-SERVICES

With support provided by a grant from the Council on Library Resources, the SUNY University Center Libraries conducted a four-campus Survey of faculty use of electronic information technologies and resources. The survey and analysis are the first such study including all academic disciplines and a broad range of faculty at several institutions joined in a consortial relationship. The survey's objectives were to determine the availability to faculty of equipment and network connections necessary for access to electronic information resources, to measure use and frequency of use of these resources, to report locations from which faculty access electronic information, and to elicit faculty perceptions of obstacles to the use of electronic technologies and library services which might stimulate use of such resources. The findings reveal that there are inequities in access to electronic technologies among the disciplines; that the most common obstacle to use of electronic information for faculty is lack of knowledge about resources; and that there is strong interest in initiating various library transactions via e-mail or a campuswide information system (CWIS). The survey results present clear mandates related to information services, training, the allocation of funds for networking, and access to electronic information resources for libraries.