Resum:
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This paper presents the results of a survey of academics affiliated to the universities
that are members of the Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC), and
an analysis of the availability in the libraries of these universities, of the references
cited in a sample of articles published by these academics. The results reflect the
major importance that researchers assign to scholarly journals as the main source of
scientific information. Most state that they use electronic journals either exclusively
or in any case more than print journals, a preference that is higher among younger
scholars. With regard to frequency of reading, four out of ten researchers state that
they read journals virtually every day, while nine out of ten report that they do so at
least once a week. Scholars claim that the obstacles they face when trying to
download an article are related to the lack of subscriptions. However, the availability
study showed that most of the articles cited in their publications are available at least
at one of the CBUC libraries. Though most researchers keep a copy of the articles
they consult, just over a third of them use some kind of reference management
software. |