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Google Scholar acceptance and use among graduate students: A quantitative study
Abstract
Adding the external variables of satisfaction and loyalty to Fred Davis' technology acceptance model (TAM), this study examined the extent to which graduate students perceived Google Scholar to be a resource that is useful and easy to use. A survey of 1141 graduate students at the University of Minnesota asked questions exploring their perceptions of Google Scholar as part of their research process. Seventy-five percent of survey participants had used Google Scholar at least once before, and a statistical analysis of the responses found that perceived usefulness, loyalty, and, to a lesser extent, perceived ease of use, were positively and significantly related to the graduate students' intended use of the information resource. This research showed that TAM is an applicable model for predicting graduate student use of Google Scholar, which can help academic librarians seeking to understand graduate student acceptance of new information sources. Additionally, this study provides information about how librarians might best promote Google Scholar and other library resources to graduate students.
... Educational research is considered to be an integral teaching field of University Departments of Education. Bibliography research is one of the most important elements of empirical educational research and is achieved through common search engines, such as Google Scholar, that is quite popular in academic library literature (Cothran 2011;Salehi et al. 2018;Shen 2012;Soules 2015). Learning how to use research tools, such as search engines for research, is very important for students (Keshavarz et al. 2016;Liaw and Huang 2003;Salehi et al. 2018;Parissi et al. 2019). ...
... Empirical studies exploring which factors influence a student's choice to use Google scholar are relatively limited (Cothran 2011;Keshavarz et al. 2016;Liaw and Huang 2003;Nikolopoulou and Gialamas 2011;Parissi et al. 2019). Moreover, the determination of factors that influence the intention of students or future faculty members to adopt information systems for academic research is useful for librarians, who ought to promote and support these purposes. ...
... 2 Literature review and research hypotheses 2.1 Search engines as information retrieval systems Nowadays, one of the primary uses of the Internet is information retrieval from search engines (Chen and Chengalur-Smith 2015;Cothran 2011;Nikolopoulou and Gialamas 2011;Parissi et al. 2019;Tella et al. 2018). Research in higher education supports that university students depend on the Internet to retrieve information, either for university assignments or for personal purposes, utilizing mainly search engines such as Google (Chen and Chengalur-Smith 2015;Nikolopoulou and Gialamas 2011;Parissi et al. 2019;Salehi et al. 2018). ...
Teaching empirical educational research in higher education involves implementing a very useful web tool for bibliography/scientific literature research, a search engine specifically employed for scientific papers, such as "Google Scholar". The aim of this study is to examine undergraduate students' acceptance of technology, through their intention to adopt and use a specific search engine for research purposes. To accomplish this goal, a questionnaire was administered to 225 students from two Universities in Greece. The study was based on TAM (Technology Acceptance Model), reinforced by four external determinants (perceived self-efficacy, subjective norms, facilitating conditions and technological complexity), that contributed to the indirect prediction of the behavioral intention to use the particular search engine. The results of the survey confirm that the main factors of TAM, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are significant determinants of students' behavioral intention to use Google Scholar. Moreover, perceived self-efficacy, subjective norms, facilitating conditions and technological complexity have an indirect significant effect on behavioral intention. All these factors explain almost 60% of students' behavioral intention to use this search engine. The results of this survey could be beneficial to the enrichment of good educational practices for the additional training of teachers, as well as to the improvement of the students' skills in the implementation of this specific research tool. Besides, more stakeholders, such as librarians, or even human resources of big companies that construct and support similar systems, such as search engines, could also benefit from the present research.
... Although user loyalty (UL) is recognized as an important concept for libraries (Rowley & Dawes, 1999), previous studies are unable to indicate if the users see the library as their first option to meet their information needs (see Bae & Cha, 2015;Bakti & Sumaedi, 2013;Chen, Chen, & Chang, 2004;Helgesen & Nesset, 2011;Kiran & Diljit, 2011;Martensen & Grønhold, 2003). It is relevant to measure users' behavioral intention of having the library as their first choice among the available sources of information, because in research carried out at the University of Minnesota, for example, one third of the participants declared that Google Scholar is the first site accessed to perform works and academic research, besides being the favorite search engine for almost half of the sample (Cothran, 2011). However, it is not enough just to measure UL without assessing the factors that precede this concept. ...
... Still, we believe that additional loyalty measures are needed to sign if libraries are managing to keep their users or if they are defecting to other information service providers. Such measures are significant, since some studies have indicated users preference for alternative information service providers instead of choosing the services offered by libraries (see Cothran, 2011;Griffiths & Brophy, 2005;Perruso, 2016;Wu & Chen, 2014). Besides, as UL explanation depends on PSQ as a determining cognitive precedent (Dick & Basu, 1994;Zeithaml et al., 1996), it is believed that the studies on service quality in the library management literature must advance in the conceptualization and operationalization of PSQ. ...
... This finding points towards the supposition that academic libraries user loyalty can be classified as "spurious loyalty" or "latent loyalty" (Dick & Basu, 1994). This corroborates the studies that have been demonstrating that Google Scholar and other online information providers are the users first choice to locate information and perform academic research (Cothran, 2011;Georgas, 2013;Griffiths & Brophy, 2005;Perruso, 2016;Wu & Chen, 2014). Therefore, it seems reasonable to affirm that academic libraries should be worried with communicating their distinct advantages over other Zeithaml et al. (1996) for the library scenario. ...
This study validates the adaptation of a loyalty scale for the library scenario and recovers the hierarchical nature of the perceived service quality (PSQ) by operationalizing it as a second‐order level construct, composed by the determinants of service quality (DSQ) identified by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry in 1985. Our hypothesis was that DSQ are distinct and complementary dimensions, in opposition to the overlapping of DSQ proposed in the SERVQUAL and LibQUAL+® models. In addition, the influence of PSQ on user loyalty (UL) was investigated. Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed the survey data of 1,028 users of a network of academic libraries and report 2 main findings. First, it was shown that the 10 DSQ are statistically significant for the evaluation of PSQ. Second, we demonstrated the positive effect of PSQ for UL. The model presented may be used as a diagnostic and benchmarking tool for managers, coordinators, and librarians who seek to evaluate and/or assess the quality of the services offered by their libraries, as well as to identify and/or manage the loyalty level of their users.
... Although user loyalty (UL) is recognized as an important concept for libraries (Rowley & Dawes, 1999), previous studies are unable to indicate if the users see the library as their first option to supply their information needs (See Bae & Cha, 2015;Bakti & Sumaedi, 2013;Chen et al., 2004;Helgesen & Nesset, 2011;Kiran & Diljit, 2011;Martensen & Grønhold, 2003). Measuring the users behavioral intention of having the library of their first choice among the available information supply channels is relevant, since, in a research carried out in the University of Minnesota, for example, 1/3 of the participants declared that Google Scholar is the first site accessed to perform works and academic researches, besides being the favorite search engine for almost half of the sample (Cothran, 2011). ...
... Still, we believe that additional loyalty measures are needed to sign if libraries are managing to keep their users or if they are defecting to other information service providers. Such measures are significant, since some studies have indicated users' preference for alternative information service providers instead of choosing the services offered by libraries (See Cothran, 2011;Griffiths & Brophy, 2005;Perruso, 2016;Wu & Chen, 2014). Besides, as UL explanation depends on PSQ as a determining cognitive precedent (Dick & Basu, 1994;Zeithaml et al., 1996), it is believed that the studies on SQ in LM literature must advance in the conceptualization and operationalization of PSQ. ...
... This corroborates to studies that have been demonstrating that online information providers (e.g. Google, Yahoo!) are the users' first choice to locate information and perform academic researches (Cothran, 2011;Georgas, 2013;Griffiths & Brophy, 2005;Perruso, 2016;Wu & Chen, 2014). Therefore, it seems reasonable to affirm that AL should be worried with communicating their distinct advantages over other information providers, so to reach superior UL levels. ...
This study validates the adaptation of a loyalty scale for the library scenario (LS) and recalls the hierarchical nature of the perceived service quality (PSQ) by operationalizing it as a second order level construct, composed by ten determinants of service quality (DSQ). The aim of the research was to identify, in the users’ point of view, which of the DSQ affected PSQ in the LS and to investigate the influence of PSQ in user loyalty (UL). The hypothesis was that DSQ are distinct and complementary dimensions, in opposition to the overlapping of DSQ proposed in the SERVQUAL and LibQUAL+® models. Using structural equation modeling, we have analyzed survey data of 1,028 users of a network of academic libraries and reported two main findings. First, it was shown that the ten DSQ are statistically significant for the evaluation of service quality. Second, we have demonstrated the positive effect of PSQ for UL. The model presented may be used as a diagnose and benchmarking tool for managers, coordinators, and librarians who seek to evaluate and/or asses the quality of the services offered by their libraries, as well as to identify and/or manage the loyalty level of their users.
... Perceived indispensability is defined as the extent to which users perceive a digital platform as essential or crucial to their daily lives, making it difficult to replace or live without [16,59]. Perceived comprehensiveness is defined as the extent to which a digital platform is perceived as comprehensive, offering a wide range of functions and services [60][61][62]. Perceived usefulness is defined as the degree to which a user believes that using a particular digital platform enhances their performance and efficiency in daily activities [63][64][65]. Perceived security risk is defined as the degree to which users perceive potential security risks and privacy concerns associated with using a digital platform [48,[63][64][65]. ...
... The total number of survey items in the last part was 21: 5 items on perceived indispensability of the digital platform adopted from [16,59]; 4 items on perceived comprehensiveness of the digital platform adopted from [60][61][62]; 4 items on perceived usefulness of the digital platform adopted from [63][64][65]; 3 items on perceived security risk of the digital platform from [48,[63][64][65]; 5 items on perceived social interaction of the digital platform from [66,67]; and 5 items for habitual use of the digital platform from [55,61,65,68,69]. Respondents indicated agreement with statements on a 5-point Likert scale, from 1 "strongly disagree" to 5 "strongly agree". ...
The pervasive integration of digital platforms into daily life has amplified their perceived indispensability. This study investigates the factors influencing this perception across countries with contrasting platform landscapes, focusing on platform quality and usage patterns. We conducted surveys in Finland and Korea, countries representing distinct platform ecosystems. The results revealed higher perceived indispensability in Korea than in Finland, with usefulness and habitual platform use emerging as significant predictors of indispensability in both countries. However, the specific aspects of platform quality influencing this perception diverged. In Finland, the platform’s comprehensiveness and security risk significantly impacted indispensability, while social interaction features played a negligible role. Conversely, in Korea, social interaction features significantly influenced indispensability, while platform comprehensiveness and security risk were non-significant. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of digital platform indispensability, shaped by the interaction of platform quality and usage patterns. The contextual variations highlighted by our cross-country comparison suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to platform regulation or user education may be ineffective. Future research should explore these cultural and platform-specific nuances to devise tailored policies.
... This suggests that graduate students adopt some of the same satisficing techniques as undergraduates. They have been also shown to have a strong preference for academic search engines such as Google Scholar, even though they acknowledge the value of traditional digital libraries [6,10,48]. ...
... We also found that both Google Scholar and our University Library Quick Find search tool are popular options for academic search, but often rated slightly lower on usefulness overall. These results are consistent with the research literature on graduate students' use of Google Scholar, which shows that they make frequent use of it but still see the need for other academic resources [10,48]. In the case of our institutions' Quick Find system (Ex Libris Primo), usability studies from other universities have shown that features intended to support exploratory search (e.g., facets) are not used heavily and although the success rate for search tasks is lower than anticipated, overall students found it helpful [17,27]. ...
When searching within an academic digital library, a variety of information seeking strategies may be employed. The purpose of this study is to determine whether graduate students choose appropriate information seeking strategies for the complexity of a given search scenario and to explore among other factors that could influence their decisions. We used a survey method in which participants (n=176n=176) were asked to recall their most recent instance of an academic digital library search session that matched two given scenarios (randomly chosen from four alternatives) and, for each scenario, identify whether they employed search strategies associated with four different information seeking models. Among the search strategies, only lookup search was used in a manner that was consistent with the complexity of the search scenario. Other factors that influenced the choice of strategy were the discipline of study and the type of academic search training received. Patterns of search tool use with respect to the complexity of the search scenarios were also identified. These findings highlight that not only is it important to train graduate students on how to conduct academic digital library searches, more work is needed to train them on matching the information seeking strategies to the complexity of their search tasks and developing interfaces that guide their search process.
... This author reiterates further that DTL provides a learning atmosphere for students as well as an outstanding research environment, academic achievement, satisfaction, acquisition of skills and competencies, persistence, attainment of learning objectives, and career success are all spheres of students academic success that can be harnessed through DTL and other individual and environmental factors, according to York, Gibson, and Rankin (2015). The DTL (theological commons) according to Cothran (2011) can facilitate attainable learning objectives, and widen the career horizons through building robust digital collections for students' consumption. Additional research has revealed that the nature of Libraries and materials available changes the trends in how students engage with and interpret resources which are an important aspect of research skills (Gilbert, Knutson, & Gilbert 2012;Liu & Luo, 2011;& Ouellette, 2011). ...
... This result is in line with the assertion of York, Gibson, and Rankin (2015) who noted that the facet students' academic success such as academic achievement, satisfaction, skill acquisition, tenacity, learning objectives achievement, and career success can all be influenced by the digital theological library and other personal and environmental factors. Contributing, Cothran (2011) opined that the digital theological library can facilitate attainable learning objectives, which widens the career horizons through building robust digital collections for students' consumption. More so, Wilson and Wright (1989) reported that term paper counselling in most cases supplements the lapses and deficiencies inherent in the classroom instructions about library usage and other learning disabilities and styles. ...
The study investigated the perceived role of digital theological library and term paper counselling in undergraduate religious education students' academic success in the federal universities in southeast Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. A structured questionnaire developed by the researchers was used for data collection. 166 undergraduate religious education students were chosen as respondents in this research. The results showed that items on the perceived role of digital theological library and term paper counselling were all accepted by the students as means of achieving academic success. There was a significant difference in the perceived role of the digital theological library in achieving academic success among religious education students by the university. There was a significant difference in the perceived role of term paper counselling in achieving academic success among religious education students based on university. There was also a significant difference in the perceived role of university librarians in achieving academic success among religious education students based on university. The researchers noted that these findings have implications for university librarians across the universities and it was recommended that the use of digital theological libraries for academic purposes and term paper counselling should be strengthened.
... Students prefer to use resources that are relatively accessible and easy to find. They also prefer products that would serve as a "one-stop" platform for them [33]. Perceived usefulness refers to the degree to which a user thinks of how a product would enhance his/her performance while perceived ease of use refers to the level of demand which a user thinks a product or process would make [34]. ...
... Perceived usefulness refers to the degree to which a user thinks of how a product would enhance his/her performance while perceived ease of use refers to the level of demand which a user thinks a product or process would make [34]. In the midst of these, the relationship between perceived usefulness and usage is significantly stronger than the relationship between ease of use and usage [33]. This is largely due to the fact that in the end, users would subscribe to the service that would increase their productivity; for researchers, faster publications due to increased access to research data and for students, better grades. ...
... Perceived ease of use is a term used to describe the extent to which an individual considers the use of the technology effortless [86]. In contrast, perceived usefulness is defined as the degree to which a person believes using the technology will enhance their job performance [87]. ...
In this study, a comparative analysis is conducted on the public acceptance of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in civilian and military contexts among the Chinese public. In order to identify the key factors influencing AV adoption under different scenarios, a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework was applied in combination with an extended variable of perceived risk. Also, a structured questionnaire was designed, with 1004 valid responses received from a sample comprising mainly members of the Chinese public aged 31–50. Data analysis was conducted through reliability and validity tests, correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Despite some slight variations in acceptance level between civilian and military fields, overall public attitudes are relatively consistent, according to the analytical results. Specifically, the average behavioral intention is slightly stronger and more consistent among the public in the civilian context, with higher scores achieved with respect to perceived usefulness and perceived risk in the military context, indicating a stronger emphasis on functionality and safety in military applications. As confirmed by SEM path analysis, there are significant influences exerted on behavioral intention by perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and satisfaction. These results demonstrate a high level of public acceptance of AV technology among the Chinese public in the context of policy support and technological innovation, providing empirical insights into the development of scenario-specific promotion strategies for the effective application of AV in various settings.
... Similarly, Cothran (2011) asserted that graduate students utilise Google Scholar more often than other users due to its ease of use and comprehension. Additionally, search engine layouts and user interfaces are beneficial and excellent academic tools. ...
Rationale of Study – The study examined the accessibility and use of electronic resources for digital reference services among university libraries in Southern Nigeria.Methodology – The study adopted a correlational descriptive survey approach to interview 234 librarians who work in both public and private university libraries in southern Nigeria.Findings – The study established that the available e-resources in university libraries in Southern Nigeria are e-books, e-journals, e-maps and databases and are extensively used for digital reference services in university libraries in Southern Nigeria. However, there are challenges emanating from low ICT literacy skills among librarians.Implications – According to the study's findings, university library management, should set up a committee to look at the electronic resources that are appropriate for digital reference services and use that information as a benchmark for assessing the current electronic resources in order to identify those that are not currently available in university libraries but could provide potential solutions for digital reference services. Additionally, university library administration should regularly assess the digital reference services given in their libraries to determine the usage of electronic resources to enhance what university libraries offer.Originality – The research has phenomenal significance because it has provided circumstantial information on the accessibility and use of electronic resources for digital reference services among university libraries in Southern Nigeria.
... He et al. (2012) argued that students thought of online academic search engines, such as Google and Cite seers as more important resources than university subscribed electronic resources, EBSCO, Emerald, Pubmed and JSTOR, and that depending on their tasks, they would prefer a particular resource to another. Similarly, Cothran (2011) found that graduate students used Google Scholars a lot because they found it easy to learn, easy to use, and easy to navigate. In addition, the design and interface were user-friendly and it was a useful resource for their research. ...
Purpose: This study investigated the awareness, use and perceived influence of electronic resources on studies among the undergraduates at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. This is in order to address the problem of underutilization of the resources in the university. Methodology: Descriptive survey design was adopted and questionnaire was used to gather data for the study. 1500 students out of 1700 sample drawn from ten colleges of the university responded to the questionnaire. Data obtained through the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings: Data obtained through the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Analysis of data collected revealed that the commonly used electronic resource among the respondents is the Internet. The respondents considered electronic resources useful to their study and they boost independence in resources searching and use. The analysis further revealed constraints to the use of electronic resources such inadequate search skills, slow internet access speed, irregular power supply and absence of formal training on the use of the resources. Implications: This study has implications on the management of electronic information resources in the library and similar university libraries. This is crucial because electronic information resources play a pivotal role in enhancing education, research development activities and academic performance of students and academic institutions globally. Recommendations: The recommended acquisition of current electronic resources that are subscription based provision of training on the resources, provision of adequate infrastructure necessary for accessing electronic resources, and provision of wireless access for the students.
... Akademik arama motorları ile ilgili yapılan bir çalışmada öğrencilerin arama motorlarının otoriteden yoksun ve güvenilmez olduğunu düşünmelerine rağmen, kalite ile güvenilirliği belirleme ve değerlendirmede yeterli oldukları için online arama motorlarını kullanmayı tercih etmişlerdir. Aynı zamanda Google Scholar'ın kullanımının kolay ve akademik döküman aramak için faydalı olduğu belirtilmiştir (13). Bunun aksine birçok araştırmacı Google Scholar'daki belgelerin güncelliği ve kapsamının yetersiz olduğunu bildirmişlerdir (14,15). ...
Due to the increasing volume of academic literature in medicine, life sciences,
and biomedical fields, it has become challenging to keep up with research publications
and find the desired results. Therefore, many academic search engines and biblio�graphic databases are available. To access them correctly and apply the methods that
lead to obtaining the desired results, every researcher conducting a scholarly literature
review must know them. There are many international indexes and search engines in
the health field. PubMed is the most widely used global index, bibliographic database,
and search engine in health. Besides PubMed, ESCI, Scopus, and DOAJ are indexes that
provide services in the health field. Google Scholar is the most used search engine and
a database that covers almost all scientific disciplines and is also considered an index.
Keywords: Indexes, PubMed, Google Scholar, Database, Health
... When needed information is not found in the library print or online collections, users tend to go to an Internet search engine such as Google Scholar to find information. T. Cothran study found that 75% of survey participants prefer Google Scholar for research works (Cothran, 2011). Some users taking help from friends or others from outside the university or buy the necessary information by themselves. ...
This paper aims to explore the availability of information resources to ALHOSN university faculty, the perception and awareness of the faculty about these resources, assessment of the level of information in terms of quality and quantity and find out how these resources could be enhanced from the faculty's actual and perceived needs. Data have been collected by way of online questionnaire to find out how faculty perceive and use the library services. The analyses and the results of the survey have revealed that the University library was partially meeting the needs of the faculty. However it transpired that there were certain areas of the services that need to be improved and enhanced. Based on the findings the paper suggested some recommendation towards improving services.
... So special, that it is very eye-catching for librarians and researchers as a free search engine for information on a variety of multidisciplinary scientific literature (Mayr, P. and Walter, 2007). Google is widely used because loyalty, convenience, and usability are very useful for both universities (Lercher, 2008) and school students (Cothran, 2011). Source all subjects, papers, patents, proceedings, books, seminars, etc. estimated at 160 million documents (Orduna-Malea, E., Ayllon, J.M., Martın, A. and Lopez-Cozar, 2014). ...
The complexity of Indonesia's diversity and cultural patterns have undergone a major evolution, especially with multicultural education in several parts of Indonesia. Multicultural education is an echo of the government in maintaining peace between ethnicities, races, and religions in Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of Google Scholar articles about the evolution of multicultural education trends in Indonesia by searching for 2000-2022 through the productivity of scientific articles, productive authors, thematic mapping, the emergence of shared keywords, and the collaboration of authors. This analysis uses Vos viewer software. This study managed to collect 994 articles, and 32,497 citations, with an author/paper ratio of 1.81. Multicultural research in Indonesia came to the fore in 2002 and continues to increase sharply in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The first-ranked researcher for the past 22 years is Wekke with 11 articles published, while the highest h-index is C Mahfud in 2013 with an h-index of 1475, he wrote a multicultural educational book. Multicultural education resulted in 4012 links, with several titles and abstracts related to it. The originality in this study as far as is known has never been done, especially how the evolution of multicultural education in Indonesia by utilizing artificial intelligence technology.
... By expediting the search process, Google Scholar also reduces the cost of conducting research. Thus, it is not surprising that high perceived usefulness and perceived ease of using the Google Scholar are prompting growing number of students to adopt ICT resources when conducting research [12]. ...
Recent advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have allowed humans to accomplish various tasks more effectively. This also applies to the quality of education, research, and development. For this reason, as one of the countries striving to improve the education system quality, Laos aims to leverage the ICT. As the empirical data on the ICT tools needed to achieve this goal in Laos is limited, this gap in extant knowledge has motivated the present study. Its aim is to examine the views of Laotian academics on the ICT tools and platforms needed, level of ICT usage, and required ICT training. The data for this quantitative study was obtained through a survey involving 11 participants who are directly involved in Building Research Building Social Research Capacities in Higher Education Institutions in Lao PDR and Malaysia (BRECIL) under the ERASMUS project. Subsequent analyses revealed that SPSS, Survey Monkey, Google Scholar, and Grammarly are among the tools academics need the most to support them in research. They also require plagiarism and grammar checking, dissemination and networking, and analysis and interpretation platforms. Most of the respondents also indicated the need for training on how to use ICT tools for analyzing research data. These findings can be used by the educational decision makers when formulating their strategies for introducing ICT tools and organizing training for Laotian academics on research and development.
... In the same framework, on the other hand in 1993, we had the first widely-used web browser NCSA Mosaic (1993 to 1997) as well as the first proprietary and commercial web browser Netscape Navigator (1993 to 2008). On the other hand, nowadays, we also have free accessible specialized web search engines (e.g., Google Scholar by Google, Microsoft Academic by Microsoft Research, etc.) that provide effective and credible, but in a simple pathway a wide search in databases which are extended to professional, academic, and scientific data (i.e., big data, metadata, etc.), information, literature, publications, and sources (e.g., books, articles, research papers, etc.) (Houzanme, 2012;Wang & Howard, 2012;Cothran, 2011) or specific websites databases as digital/electronic/online libraries or even academic and scientific web search engines (also known as bibliographic databases) (e.g., ERIC, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, etc.) or other websites as databases (e.g., ResearchGate.net, Academia.edu, ...
The enormous impact of information and communications technologies (ICTs) has played an important role in adult education over time. This timelessness has led to the development of new approaches and the redefinition of the teaching methodology applied in lifelong adult learning, with the aim of quality and effective teaching. ICTs as reflected in literature and research are the spearheads which demand a plethora of multiple-multimodal skills, abilities, and competencies from adult educators. Likewise, it seems to require a new, more modern approach for effective teaching and training in relation to work. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the paramount importance of using ICTs as a technological and educational communication tool that provide enhancement in adult education through technology-enhanced learning, both for the adult educator and the adult learners. Through a rich bibliographic literature, an attempt is made to outline the relationship between ICTs and adult education with a focus on adult educators and adult learners.
... This impacts on their skills to search for information, and to understand and use information for assessment, with many students preferring to use a Google search and Wikipedia as their choice of search tools due to their accessible platforms (Wu & Chen, 2014). Additionally, students' lack of training and/or inconsistent training with library databases in school leads to the conclusion that universities need to invest time improving students' skills in this area (Cothran, 2011). ...
The aim of this paper is to explore how first-year university students at a regional university in Australia perceive and use Information Literacy (IL) as they transition from school to university. A survey method was used to gather data through pre- and post-intervention surveys with 1,333 first-year students enrolled in their first semester of study across all disciplines at the university. The study identified that between 25–35% of students did not enjoy reading, with many students preferring not to read. Students arrived at university with largely misguided confidence in their personal IL skills, especially the skills needed to meet the demands of university level coursework, with up to 47% of students unlikely to have experienced well-resourced libraries at school. The study concludes that implications for university teaching include gaining an early understanding of the IL skills students have when they arrive at university, and the explicit teaching of IL skills, given the identified impact of IL skills on student success and retention rates.
... Scholarly content is being retrieved from google scholar (Ettinger, 2008). In a research interpretation of a particular study conducted on student views of University of Minnesota on search engines, it is revealed that the google scholar interface is most simple and clear to use (Cothran, 2011). However, one of the common features of all these search engines are searching with the help of keywords (Ganchev, 2013). ...
The current study emphasizes on creating digital equity by addressing the digital space for social science research. Despite the enormous space offered in the digital era for piloting research work, this huge space creates ambiguity among researchers to discover the right space to proceed in their area of interest. This study aims to provide researchers a proficient delicacy outlook over digital space, explicitly social science researchers to be in line with world-class researchers. It is evident that the central problem for budding research scholars is to identify the right procedure to use and the right sources to explore. This study addresses the following research questions, notably, why social science research needs to be digitalized? Which web sources or search engines will help to carry forward the research? What are the possible techniques to be used for data analysis? What is needed to be interpreted from the data? and what are the prominent soft wares to be used for bibliographic management? This study clarifies the ambiguity of researchers in context of information seeking, information gathering, estimation of sample size, reliability and validity of the scales, use of trial versions of software, and installing plugins for easy interpretation of recommended indices for research models. Accordingly, the study is believed to identify the digital space for social science research by academicians and librarians, commencing with finding the right literature to follow and concluding with learning an appropriate way for data interpretation.
... Many students expand exploration patterns that may help them complete term paper and research work through following instructions given in the digital materials. Theological commons according to Cothran (2011) plays an important role for students; through building robust digital collections for students' consumption. Additional research has revealed that the nature of Libraries and materials available changes the trends in how students engage with and interpret resources which are an important aspect of research skills (Gilbert, Knutson, & Gilbert 2012;Liu & Luo, 2011;& Ouellette, 2011). ...
The study investigated religious education students' awareness and use of theological commons for term paper writing and research in the federal universities in southeast Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design to investigate 96 male students and 86 female students. The statistical analysis was done using an independent t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The finding of this study showed that there is no significant difference in the awareness of theological commons among religious education students for term paper writing and research by gender. The finding of this study also showed that there is a gender difference in the use of theological commons for term paper writing and research among religious education students. It was recommended that there should be seminars and workshops to intensify the use of theological commons among the students for term paper writing and improved research skills.
... Others also use them to perform assignments, prepare for examinations and to gain subject knowledge. Similarly, Cothran (2011) asserted that graduate students use IJSER Google Scholar more since they find it easy to learn and easy to navigate. Also, the design and interface of search engines are user-friendly and it is a useful resource for their research. ...
This study investigated utilization of electronic resources by the users in the Kwara State University Library, Nigeria. Cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 3,670 registered users with the library and a sample of 367 was selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. 367 copies of the questionnaire were administered while 345 were returned which used for the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for the research questions. The findings showed that all the types of electronic resources listed in the study are available with electronic books having the highest responses. The study found out that there is no significant difference in the extent to which users utilize ERs. The study recommended among others that since electronic books are available in the university library, the University library management should intensify the availability of other types especially CD-ROMs and DVD by supplying more
... This process is recommended to be done by reputable recognized and trusted websites or to be done on specific websites, because a simple search engine (e.g., Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.) as tool is insufficient and does not offer such capabilities, unless its algorithms are specialized (Marres & Rogers, 2000;Muniesa & Tchalakov, 2012;Introna & Nissenbaum, 2000, Vaidhyanathan, 2011. One such (specialized) tool could be Google Scholar, which is a free specialized search engine and provides in a simple way a wide search in databases that is limited to professional, academic and scientific information, and is considered effective and credible (Houzanme, 2012, Wang & Howard, 2012Cothran, 2011). Although some researchers believe that it has huge content omissions in its structure (Karlsson, 2014;Howland et al., 2009;Jacsó , 2008aJacsó , , 2008bJacsó , , 2005 and is unsuitable for searching information (Jacsó , 2010), suggesting specific websites databases as digital/electronic/online libraries or/and search engines (also known as bibliographic databases) (e.g., ERIC, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, etc.) or other websites as databases (e.g., ResearchGate.net, ...
This article discusses traditional methods and techniques of methodological qualitative research using the Internet applications and services as technology-enhanced research. The rapid developments of technology have reformed the methodology of qualitative research with new trends and perspectives of research methods, which are now carried out from and through the Internet (e.g., audiovisual methods from and through audiovisual media technology). The Internet is now a huge research challenge for researchers as an opportunity for action (such as the philosophy and the methodology of action research). Through extensive and rich literature, an attempt is made to understand the whole subject in relation to audiovisual media technology, which requires many new skills and abilities. The main purpose of this article is to become an important guide, but also a list of (new) methods for conducting a qualitative research, while its bibliography can be used as a source for further study.
... Several studies on databases have employed the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical basis. Some examples include; "Graduate students' acceptance of Google Scholar" (Cothran, 2011); "Factors influencing students' use of Google Scholar" (Shen, 2012) and "Understanding students' behavioral intention to use EBSCO" (Vaghela and Thaker, 2016). Whereas the focus of these studies differs significantly from the current study, that of Kim (2005) is partly related. ...
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to ascertain whether or not faculty members would be motivated to use e-Databases for research considering the impact of the Technology Acceptance Model2 (TAM2) cognitive instrumental processes of job relevance, output quality and result demonstrability.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey research design was applied. The selection of samples was based on a multistage sampling technique involving; purposive, simple/systematic random and total enumeration procedures. Five colleges and departments each were selected from the three universities that provided the setting for the conduct of this study, out of which a sample of 135 was drawn from the total population of 209. The questionnaire method was used for data gathering. Ninety-five percent return rate of the administered instrument was observed. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed for data analyses.
Findings
Job relevance, output quality and result demonstrability are motivators of faculty use of e-Databases for research with result demonstrability wielding the strongest influence. Use of e-Databases for research is based on the usefulness level perceived of them. Faculty are highly predisposed to using the technology for research with the chances of getting published in reputable journal outlets ranked highest among other factors that influence faculty use of e-Databases.
Originality/value
The conceptualization of TAM2 cognitive instrumental processes as system characteristics and motivators of e-Databases use among faculty towards research engagement advances the understanding of intention to use e-Databases for research.
... The reference and bibliographic tool of libraries (SBA) is a means of disclosing the contents of the library stock and assisting users in selecting documents.According to [18] Improving Learning Efficiencyand maximum student inclusionin the educational processby developing an approach tailoredto individual needs. [19] strongly argues for "librarians to focus on improving the usability and accessibility of library resources by linking library databases and Google Scholar, instead of simply discouraging. Without some intervention with a library-trained professional, students may find obstacles accessing library content. ...
The proposed visual search approach is intended to improve the student’s searching performancefor the developing countries,in the Digital library system,which could lead to better reasoning and problem-solving. By applying the Visual search approachproposed by this work, potential information seekers can be better satisfied. The mouth to mouth publicity of the library shall attract more information hunters and thus new members will join the community. This shall spread more knowledge and information in society, thus making the society more aware, creative and critical thinkers. Their orientation towards virtuous searching will give rise to thought-provoking research. This research will help the Sultanate of Oman to create a niche in the field of academic research.Theproposed visual search approach shall be applicable to other higher education systems. Dissemination of knowledge will help the society to become responsible forthe job assigned, future accountability and conscientiousness. Two mathematical models have been proposed to develop the structure of the visual search and to simplify the search task for the library system. The outcomes of the proposed approach outperform the current approach used in the library search systems with 20% improvement allowing for interactive visual model showing every word connected to the given subject. The visual interface creates a visual semantic background for each term needed to be defined and forms. The self-motivated visualization of the search situation. We believe this Visual library search engine will attract the library's scientific community, universities, and research and development groups.
... In the study the students responded that Google was their primary source of information resources, followed by text books and least journal articles. According to Cothran (2011) Google and Google Scholar serves as a popular information resource among students, providing easy access to relevant information. In a related study in America by Yi (2005: 51) faculty members were facing a challenge regarding the quality of student work due to students use of information found on Google and ignoring quality academic resources. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to assess the perceived satisfaction of Advanced Certificate in Teaching students and facilitators regarding online library services offered by the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a quantitative approach with open-ended questions that generated some qualitative data. Data has been presented using descriptive statistics in the form of tables, graphs and charts and thematic content analysis for some qualitative data.
Findings
All learners in this study were adults between 45 and 55 years of age. Of the respondents, 13% lacked online experience, while about 85% had never used online library services and 35% indicated that Google was their primary source of information. The majority of respondents indicated information literacy as a core function of the academic library. High data cost in South Africa came out as one of the major issues affecting distance learners as well as login and password frustrations. The study confirmed computer anxiety, physical discomfort, information overflow and prompt response as some of the perceived challenges and levels of satisfaction respectively of Advanced Certificate in Teaching students and facilitators regarding online library services offered by the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa.
Practical implications
The study revealed that a distance learning library policy is of the essence because it helps to put in place rules and regulations that guide the delivery of distance library services.
Originality/value
The offering of online and distance library services is a fairly new concept to the UFS library. This study bridges the gap between theory and practice regarding the perceived satisfaction of distance users on online library services and how to improve the current practice.
... And that depending on their tasks, they would prefer a particular resource to another. Similarly, Cothran (2011) found that graduate students used Google Scholar a lot because they found it easy to learn; easy to use; and easy to navigate. In addition, the design and interface were userfriendly and it was a useful resource for their research. ...
The study investigated the awareness, accessibility and use of library subscribed online electronic databases by students of university of Maiduguri. The study covered registered users of Ramat library, university of Maiduguri. The study was guided by four objectives and four research questions. Survey research design was adopted in conducting the research. The target population of the study was 2,326 registered users of the library and a sample size of 341 was drawn using simple random sampling technique. A total of 341 copies of Questionnaire were administered to registered users in the library, out of which 247 copies were retrieved and found valid for analysis. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentage to answer the research questions, while results were presented in tables. The SPSS version 20 package was used for the analysis of data collected. Findings revealed that there is low level of awareness of the online databases by user, it was also found out that majority of the databases are not accessible by students therefore leading to low extent of utilization of the subscribed database. The study recommends among others that the library should increase the level of awareness of users on the online electronic databases available subscribed to by the library through active publicity programmes. Also, to develop plan that will improve use of electronic databases by users of the library.
... 30 Similarly, Cothran investigated how graduate students perceive and use GS by conducting an online survey based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). 31 The researcher found that participants' perceived usefulness, loyalty, and perceived ease of use were positively associated with the intended use of GS. 32 In addition, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and comprehensiveness were positively related to the perceived usefulness of GS. 33 In summary, a number of studies have compared GS and library search tools in terms of their searchability, coverage, and interfaces. Some research studies have also explored how academic users use GS. ...
Google Scholar and academic library discovery systems are both popular resources among academic users for finding scholarly information. By conducting an online survey with 975 users from more than 20 public research universities across the United States, this study comparatively investigates how and why academic users use these two resources. Results show that the ways participants used both resources were similar, and both were perceived as highly accessible and useful. Academic library discovery systems’ perceived comprehensiveness, subjective norm, loyalty, and intended use were higher than Google Scholar, while Google Scholar’s perceived ease of use, system quality, and satisfaction were higher than that of academic library discovery systems. © 2019, Association of College and Research Libraries. All rights reserved.
... Others also use them to perform assignments, prepare for examinations and to gain subject knowledge. Similarly, Cothran (2011) asserted that graduate students use Google Scholar more since they find it easy to learn and easy to navigate. Also, the design and interface of search engines are user-friendly and it is a useful resource for their research. ...
This study investigated utilization of electronic information resources by the undergraduate students in the university libraries in Gombe State, Nigeria. Cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 2,970 registered undergraduate students with the library and a sample of 297 was selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. The data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions and T-test for the null hypothesis. The findings showed that all the types of electronic information resources listed in the study are available with electronic books having the highest responses. The study revealed that institutional repository was the highly utilized electronic information resources. The study found out that there is no significant difference in the extent to which undergraduate students utilize EIRs. The study recommended among others, that since electronic books are available in all the universities studied, the University libraries management in Gombe State should intensify the availability of other types especially CD-ROMs by supplying more.
... The popularity of Google Scholar among researchers across different disciplines is re-instated through the findings of this study. The finding is an indication of the constant growth in popularity for Google Scholar through the years (Cothran, 2011;Herrera, 2011). For Q3, the databases ScienceDirect and Web of Science are the other popular choices since they are two of the oldest available online academic information sources, covering multiple disciplines. ...
In the domain of scholarly communication lifecycle, recommender systems have been built to provide research papers for researchers’ explicit and implicit information needs. Previous studies (Jardine, 2014; Mcnee, 2006) have employed an algorithmic approach of providing solutions to researcher’s tasks. The characteristics of the tasks, their inter-relationships and intra-relationships with algorithms have been largely ignored since the focus has mainly been to propose different recommendation techniques on top of a variety of algorithms. Driven by these research gaps, the overarching goal of this research is to build an assistive system for helping researchers in finding papers for key Literature Review (LR) and Manuscript Preparatory (MP) tasks. To achieve this goal, two research objectives are proposed. The first objective is to identify an appropriate method to map the identified LR and MP tasks to relevant algorithms. The deliverable for this objective is a prototype assistive system that provides recommendations for three tasks. The second research objective is to evaluate whether the performance of the proposed recommendation techniques and the overall system are at the expected level. To address the research objectives, the research is divided into two interrelated studies. In Study I, a university-wide survey was conducted on the topic of Inadequate and Omitted Citations in manuscripts (IOC). The 207 survey respondents were classified into manuscript reviewer and author groups. Survey results indicated that manuscript authors frequently miss citing seminal and topically-similar papers in journal manuscripts. The lack of experience in a specific research area was perceived as a major reason for IOC, followed by lack of overall research experience and the scenario of working in interdisciplinary research projects. Authors frequently needed external assistance in finding interdisciplinary and topically-similar papers for LR. Based on the findings, two LR search tasks of building reading list and finding topically similar papers were shortlisted. A third task meant to help researchers in identifying unique and important papers from their final reading list was selected, thereby making it a total of three tasks for the assistive system. A prototype called Rec4LRW (Recommendations for Literature Review and Writing) system was developed for providing recommendations for the shortlisted three tasks. The system development was guided a threefold intervention framework comprising of (i) task redesign for addressing the algorithmic improvements, (ii) task interconnectivity addressing the management of papers between the tasks and (iii) informational display features in the system’s user-interface for expediting researcher’s relevance judgment decisions. The second research objective is addressed in Study II. As a part of Study II, an offline evaluation experiment and a user evaluation study were conducted. An extract of papers from the ACM Digital Library was used as the corpus for the evaluations. A total of 119 researchers who had experience in authoring research papers, participated in the user study. Predictors and correlates for the output quality measures were identified for each task. This study established the effectiveness of the three interventions in providing relevant recommendations. Graduate students and novice researchers found the recommendations and the overall system to be more useful and effective.
Drought is a complex environmental phenomenon that affects millions of people and communities all over the globe and is too elusive to be accurately predicted. This is mostly due to the scalability and variability of the web of environmental parameters that directly/indirectly causes the onset of different categories of drought. Since the dawn of man, efforts have been made to uniquely understand the natural indicators that provide signs of likely environmental events. These indicators/signs in the form of indigenous knowledge system have been used for generations. The intricate complexity of drought has, however, always been a major stumbling block for accurate drought prediction and forecasting systems. Recently, scientists in the field of agriculture and environmental monitoring have been discussing the integration of indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge for a more accurate environmental forecasting system in order to incorporate diverse environmental information for a reliable drought forecast. Hence, in this research, the core objective is the development of a semantics-based data integration middleware that encompasses and integrates heterogeneous data models of local indigenous knowledge and sensor data towards an accurate drought forecasting system for the study areas. The local indigenous knowledge on drought gathered from the domain experts is transformed into rules to be used for performing deductive inference in conjunction with sensors data for determining the onset of drought through an automated inference generation module of the middleware. The semantic middleware incorporates, inter alia, a distributed architecture that consists of a streaming data processing engine based on Apache Kafka for real-time stream processing; a rule-based reasoning module; an ontology module for semantic representation of the knowledge bases.
The present study is an attempt to determine the present status of computer literacy and level of use of internet among academia of science in Universities of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The study found that overwhelming majority of respondents from both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 88.7% and 87.8% respectively are either expert or above average in computer literacy skills. Precisely 32.4% of the respondents prefer to use internet from department Library, 17.5% of the respondents prefers their Home or Hostel, and 34.7% of the respondents have no preferred place for internet use. Exactly 84.3% of the respondents are using internet either daily or 4 to 5 times in a week. Altogether 39% of the respondents from Andhra Universities are using Google Chrome and 51.5% of the respondents from Telangana Universities are using Google Chrome for browsing the resources on the net.
In this chapter, the authors use a adapted technology acceptance model (ATAM) to examined the extent to which undergraduate students perceived ChatGPT to be a resource that is useful and easy to use. A pilot study was performed from different discipline of undergraduate students exploring their perceptions of ChatGPT as part of their research process. A statistical analysis was performed using Smart-PLS 4.0. The current study confirmed the use of adapted technology acceptance model for predicting undergraduate student use of ChatGPT.
At the point when the students are assessed, they are demanded to work to publish scientific writing. This study investigates the process of constructing scientific writing as well as the academic search engine that is frequently used by graduate students in building their papers. Later on, this study also discloses the factor of using repeated platforms. A personal learning environment helps the students to connect both inside and outside the classroom learning by employing digital tools. This paper presents a case study exploring the steps of conducting scientific writing, the academic search engine mostly used by students, and the factors in deciding the platform. Eighteen graduate students majoring in the English education department were the participants of this study. The data was collected through class observation, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The result shows several steps to construct scientific writing including readiness, composing the article, getting ready for publication, distribution, and development. While Google Scholar (100%), Web of Science (94.7%), and online library (63.2%) are the top three online platforms as the academic search engine they used to search for references to build arguments for their scientific writing. Some factors why those platforms become highly beneficial are exposed by the participants such as their pertinence, reference quality, and publication impact. This study is expected to provide certain considerations for students or scholars about utilizing several online platforms and some reasons behind which is beneficial to build scientific writing publications.
The purpose of this paper is to find out the awareness and use of e-journals by members of academic staff of the Faculty of Agriculture Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. A questionnaire was used as the main method for data collection and was supplemented by interview and observation methods. The findings revealed that the level of use of scholarly electronic journals was high and the use of search engines such as Google was high amongst members of academic staff. It was further revealed that, scholarly electronic journals were mainly used by members of academic staff for research and academic purposes. It is however found that, lack of awareness and limited searching skills were the main factors which were militating against effective use of scholarly electronic journals. In order to improve and maximize the optimum usage of scholarly electronic journals by members of academic staff, the study recommends the following: the institution should employ proactive marketing strategies such as the use of calendars, newsletters, posters, workshops/training, flyers and brochures, website; conduct training on the use of scholarly electronic journals databases and subscribe to relevant scholarly electronic journals.
Google Scholar has become an important search platform for students in higher education, and, as such, can be regarded as a competitor to university libraries. Previous research has explored students’ intention to use Google Scholar (GS) and University Digital Libraries (UDLs), but there is a lack of comparative studies that explore students’ preferences between these two platforms. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the search behaviour of a select group of users, international postgraduate students and more specifically compares the factors that influence their use of Google Scholar and University Digital Libraries (UDLs). A questionnaire-based survey, based on the factors in the UTAUT model (unified theory of acceptance and use of technology) was conducted to collect data on acceptance and use of technology of GS and UDL’s respectively. Data was collected from 400 international postgraduate students studying in the United Kingdom. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to establish the contextual influencing factors, whilst structural equation modelling examined the predicted model. The results suggest some differences between the influence of various factors between the UDL dataset and the GS datasets. They suggest that social influence (SI) did not affect behavioural intention (BI) for either data set, but that for the UDL dataset, effort expectancy did not affect BI, whereas for the GS dataset facilitating conditions did not influence BI. The approach taken in this study further facilitates research into the use of search tools to progress beyond ease of use as a main driver and to explore the relationship between internal and external influences of use. Recommendations for further research are suggested and the value of the insights gained for UDLs and their provision and support for all students is discussed.
Rehabilitation Engineering is the use of engineering principles applied to rehabilitation, disability, and independent living. Google Scholar is a searchable resource that allows people from around the world to create profiles of their interests and collaborations, and it provides a means to search the broad scientific and technical literature. Google Scholar was used to identify the 150 most cited people who listed Rehabilitation Engineering in their profile. Research impact, characteristics, and areas of research of the most cited rehabilitation engineers were examined. Furthermore, gender and geographical differences in research metrics of the highest citied rehabilitation engineers were investigated. Consumer priorities in rehabilitation engineering were identified using a voice of consumer (VoC) survey and recent literature based on VoC studies. Gaps between research publication and activities and consumer priorities were identified to recommend seven areas of research with high demand and opportunity for growth and innovation. Implications.
Purpose
Digital libraries and academic search engines have developed as two important online scholarly information sources with different features. The purpose of this study is to compare digital libraries and academic search engines from the perspective of the dual-route model.
Design/methodology/approach
Research hypotheses were developed. Potential participants were recruited to answer an online survey distributing at Chinese social media out of which 251 responses were deemed to be valid and used for data analysis. The paired samples t -test was used to compare the means.
Findings
Both information quality (central route) and source credibility (peripheral route) of digital libraries are significantly higher than those of academic search engines, while there is no significant difference between digital libraries and academic search engines in terms of affinity (peripheral route).
Practical implications
In the digital information society, the important status of digital libraries as conventional information sources should be spread by necessary measures. Academic search engines can act as complementary online information sources for seeking academic information rather than the substitute for digital libraries. Practitioners of digital libraries should value the complementary role of academic search engines and encourage users to use academic search engines while emphasizing the importance of digital libraries as conventional information sources.
Originality/value
According to the dual-route model, this study compares digital libraries and academic search engines in terms of information quality, source credibility and affinity, which the authors believe presents a new lens for digital libraries research and practice alike.
Significant changes are taking place in the digital information environment that necessitate a marketing-oriented paradigm shift in the delivery of e-resources in most academic libraries in Africa. These changes present different challenges and prospects in terms of newer skills and programming that require a high degree of adaptability to well-designed marketing ethos in the delivery of e-resources offerings to the increasingly diverse and sophisticated clientele in the academic environment in Africa. This chapter examines the challenges and prospects of marketing e-resources in the digital environment in academic libraries in Africa. It explores the holistic marketing readiness of academic libraries in terms of product orientation, promotion, pricing, delivery channels, skills-set and atmospherics that would ensure that the ultimate exchange of value to their clientele is sustained over time. This will accentuate the survival and relevance of African academic libraries in the current dynamic, competitive, and technology-driven environment in the world.
Purpose
This study aims to focus on how librarians use and promote Google Scholar (GS) within their library instruction sessions. This study also examines how Google Scholar and the Google Scholar discovery layer, library links, is promoted on library websites. This information is then analyzed across the three date ranges.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides a longitudinal analysis of the opinions and uses of Google Scholar by the Ohio consortium of libraries, OhioLINK. This study uses survey data that was collected in 2007, 2014 and 2019 via the OhioLINK Listserv and builds off of co-author’s previous study (2008), which examined the attitudes of OhioLINK librarians as it related to Google Scholar.
Findings
The results of this research suggested that there were significant changes in use and opinions of Google Scholar between 2007 and 2014 with more normalization of uses and opinions occurring between 2014 and 2019.
Research limitations/implications
Respondents were not asked for the type of library where they work or to identify their position within their libraries, which necessarily limits the conclusions that can be drawn from the survey responses. In retrospect, limiting the sample to instruction librarians or faculty librarians might have yielded more meaningful results. Additionally, this project did not evaluate the uses and opinions of librarians using GS at the reference desk. By providing this information, it would be easier to truly glean the uses and opinions of librarians with regard to GS.
Practical implications
This research will assist librarians contextualize how one of the most popular research resources has been used and promoted by those within the field and how those opinions have changed over time. This study will provide context into how Google Scholar became one of the most popular research tools and how attitudes of this unprecedented, and controversial, resource came to be accepted by librarians over the past 15 years.
Social implications
This study will help librarians better contextualize how other librarians use and promote Google Scholar. Furthermore, it demonstrates how a controversial information research tool became accepted by those in the field over time.
Originality/value
According to the authors’ knowledge, this research is the only study to provide a longitudinal analysis of the librarian opinions of Google Scholar. It targeted the same audience in identical surveys in a way no other Google Scholar research has done. It builds off of the co-author’s (2008) work, which is a well-cited study regarding librarian attitudes of Google Scholar. This research was done on the 15th year anniversary of Google Scholar.
Purpose
This study examines the use of the search engine, Google Scholar, from the perspective of a specific study group, that of international postgraduate students. Based on the theory of task perceived performance and effort expectancy influencing intention to use, further factors of system, individual, social and organisational, in the postgraduate student context are explored.
Design/methodology/approach
The questionnaire for the measurement of 11 factors was developed from related studies of e-library use, and data were collected from 200 international postgraduate students studying in the UK. Analysis using confirmatory factor analysis established the contextual influencing factors, and structural equation modeling examined the predicted model.
Findings
The findings confirmed the influence of the task-based factors of performance and expectancy and revealed that these were based on the perception of the visibility, accessibility and relevance of the system, and on perceived self-efficacy. The perception postgraduates held of themselves as competent users of Google Scholar was further borne out in the participants' own words when asked for the reason for their preference.
Originality/value
The approach taken enables research into use of search tools to go beyond ease of use as a main driver and to explore the relationship held among the internal and external influences of use. Recommendations for further user research are suggested as well as possible impact on the university library provision and support of services for students.
Cada vez mais as empresas buscam maneiras de aprimorar seus serviços para conseguirem competir diante de novos mercados. Uma maneira utilizada para melhorar a qualidade e a segurança dos serviços é a chamada computação em nuvem, que está sendo adotada por empresas que desejam, por exemplo, maior economia, privacidade e sustentabilidade. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo apresentar um modelo para avaliar a Satisfação, Lealdade e Intenção de Uso de serviços de computação em nuvem no mercado de vídeos online, por meio de um estudo com consumidores da empresa Netflix. A Netflix utiliza a tecnologia de computação em nuvem nos seus negócios e nos últimos anos apresentou um grande crescimento, pois oferece para seus consumidores uma ampla variedade de filmes e séries de alta qualidade por um preço acessível, em um modelo de negócios diferenciado. A metodologia utilizada foi quantitativa e os dados foram analisados por meio de modelos de equações estruturais. O estudo apresentou um modelo robusto com alto valor explicativo. A pesquisa fornece informações relevantes sobre o comportamento dos indivíduos nesse mercado, evidenciando fatores que levam à Satisfação, Lealdade e Intenção de Uso, contribuindo com os pesquisadores da área. Gestores podem utilizar as informações para alinhar os resultados com as estratégias de oferecimento de serviços e benefícios para os usuários.
This study is an investigation of users satisfied with the use of electronic databases in the Federal Polytechnic Offa Library. The population of the study comprises the final year student at the Department of Library and Information Science of the Federal Polytechnic Library, Offa which are 280 in number. Random sampling techniques were used to sample 200 which represents 71% of the total population. The tools used for data collection was a structured questionnaire in line with the objective of the study. The researchers administered the questionnaire to the users of the library understudy which was later collected from them at random. In analyzing the data, frequencies of occurrence and simple percentage tools were adopted for easy analysis. Findings collected from the questionnaire show that the existence of electronic database utilization in the federal polytechnic Offa. The study revealed that students using electronic databases face a series of challenges which include the poor attitude of library staff, low/poor data transmission, and technophobia among others. The study concluded that the low level of users' satisfaction with electronic databases in the polytechnic is due to a lack of proper awareness of the availabilities and importance of using electronic databases to the student in their academics and research pursuit. It was recommended that the institution library should re-orientate its users on how to access electronic information resources subscribed by the institution and conduct user awareness programs at the beginning of each academic session. This will encourage new students and research scholars to use library resources and services.
Students in higher education environments typically work with information discovered to gain and create knowledge required for their assessments and other course work. Much of this research happens online now as a required activity for students at all education levels and settings. When students access study material via the Internet and without the presence of an instructor, they may face difficulties in understanding the complete purpose of an assessment. Such difficulties can lead to poor information search practices resulting in poor creativity and low knowledge gain, which may in turn lead to mediocre information synthesis and low levels of knowledge creation. To investigate and possibly address this problem, the current study examines the information search practices of 10 novice and 5 experienced university students as they seek to gain and create knowledge for authentic assessment tasks. An additional five students received an intervention in the form of a word cloud application, which was introduced to create a visual and textual task understanding support scaffolding for the students. Results revealed evidence of knowledge gain and creation, especially by most experienced students when they used mental models to derive their searching process, and when they used notes to convert the implicit knowledge into an explicit form. The word cloud intervention additionally provided experienced students relevant learning cues from the task to improve their knowledge gain and creation, and helped improve their engagement with the online assessments tasks.
الورقة تسعى للتعريف بالخصائص والمزايا التي يقدمها محرك البحث جوجل بشكل عام وفي الجانب العلمي بشكل خاص. كذلك ستناقش الورقة مدى الإستفادة من الخصائص المتوفرة في محركات البحث في الجانب العلمي، ومدى الإستفادة من محرك البحث العلمي من قبل طلبة جامعة السلطان قابوس، تخصص دراسات المعلومات. وقد اتبع الباحثان الأسلوب الوصفي من خلال استعراض الخصائص الموجودة في محرك البحث جوجل وتقديم موجز لها وخصوصا الخصائص المتعلقة بالجانب العلمي والأكاديمي. بالإضافة إلى ذلك تم استخدام استبانة لجمع بيانات كمية عن مدى استفادة الطلبة من خصائص محرك البحث جوجل، والعينة شملت طلبة تخصص دراسات المعلومات في كلية الآداب والعلوم الإجتماعية بجامعة السلطان قابوس. الإحصائيات الأخيرة توضح أن محرك البحث جوجل يحتل مركز الصدارة في نسبة الإستخدام من قبل الباحثين على مستوى العالم، ولكن رغم هذا الكم الهائل من الإستخدام فإن الكثيرين يجهلون الخصائص التي يوفرها هذا المحرك وخصوصا في المجال العلمي. ومن ضمن الخصائص التي يجهلها الباحثون هي عملية تقنين عملية البحث من خلال خيارات التضييق الموجودة، فمثلاً يمكن البحث عن الصور بأحجام معينة وألون معينة وبصيغ معينة وخلال فترة معينة. وأما الخصائص المتعلقة بالجانب العلمي فتشمل عملية التوثيق التلقائي للمقالات المسترجعة والإستشهادات المرجعية. ونتيجة لذلك فإن توضيح خصائص محرك البحث جوجل التي يمكن الاستفادة منها في المجال العلمي سيكون لها دور كبير في الحصول على المعلومات المطلوبة بشكل أسرع وأدق، وكذلك تسعى الدراسة لمعرفة مدى استفادة الطلبة من هذه الخصائص وكيف يمكن أن نعزز هذه الإستفادة لأكبر قدر ممكن.
الكلمات المفتاحية: محرك البحث جوجل، الباحث العلمي، استرجاع المعلومات.
One of the leading objectives of the libraries is to provide the latest and timely information to its clientele and keep them updated with the new arrivals related to their subject areas. However, a limited storage capacity of libraries is throwing a challenge before librarians from the beginning of libraries. The latest developments in the libraries for information management, preservation, and dissemination involve a high rate of computer technologies. Institutional Repository (IR) is a new breed which has the potential to store any amount of information in little space and preserve it for a long-term perspective. Therefore, many of the academic libraries are enforced to develop their Institutional Repositories (IRs). The present study has started to find the solution to the burning problems before the academic libraries especially for planning, establishing, and maintaining the IRs for digital preservation. It is observed that the library managers are often confused when they asked to create IRs, design IR policy, motivated faculty, prepare budget estimates, etc. The study also covered various theoretical aspects related to the creation and maintenance of an IR in an academic environment and attempt to provide an understanding of digital preservation. The available literature about the significance of the IRs has revealed that the IRs are the need of the hour to showcase the research output of an institution. It does not only help to enhance the visibility of the intellectual work of faculties and researchers, but also support the scholarly communication among the academic community.
The purpose of this study was to learn from a comparison of assessment related research behaviour of novice and experienced university students by investigating their online information searching, reading, and resource use practices. Significance is that changing online learning environments require a rethink of traditional learning and teaching practices, and this study adds practical recommendations to the LIS knowledgebase for designing learning material in virtual environments. For this purpose, published findings from two phases of a study were compiled into comparison tables for this study. Relevant data from original datasets were added to strengthen comparison. Compiled information was assessed by researchers to form three themes; information tools selection, information searching, and information analysis. Results indicate that both groups used a modest suite of information searching tools, and videos and social media were avoided. Experienced students made use of library provided discovery tools, and engaged with and supplemented their searches by using advanced features of the search tool. Both groups engaged in speed reading, but the experienced students were more engaged with online texts, read relatively linearly, and worked with keywords. Recommendations focus on skill development of educators to design online learning materials, and training students to effectively address assessment requirements.
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the scholarly nature of the results retrieved by the Google Scholar on the five major global problems, i.e. global warming, economic recession, terrorism, HIV AIDS and child labour.
Design/methodology/approach
The five terms (global warming, economic recession, terrorism, HIV AIDS and child labour) were searched into the Google Scholar database, and the first 50 retrieved hits were manually analysed to record the relevant bibliographic details. The scholarship of the results was measured by quality indices like h-index, Altmetrics and Journal Impact Factor. The Scopus – the world’s biggest abstract and citation database – was used to identify the h-index of the prolific authors, citations of articles and impact factor of journals.
Findings
The study reveals that Google Scholar retrieves a good number of publications on the selected global problems from reputed publishers such as Nature Publishing Group, Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, Blackwell and Sage and published from well-developed countries such as the USA, UK and Switzerland. Google Scholar mostly retrieves articles and research papers from qualitative journals having a good impact factor such as Nature , Science , The Lancet , American Journal of Public Health , The Economic Journal , Social Science and Medicine and Annals of Tourism Research . These articles and books are contributed by the reputed authors having high h-index. The journal articles and books retrieved have also a good number of citations, although such results are limited. The results prove that Google Scholar is scholarly in nature to a great extent.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are limited to Google Scholar only and cannot be generalized for the rest of the search tools or databases. Further, the study included only five major global problems in the study, and thus, results cannot be applicable to other areas of knowledge.
Practical implications
The study is a checklist to know the retrieval performance of Google Scholar in terms of quality of content.
Originality/value
It is the first study of its kind that takes into account the nature of content on major global problems retrieved by the Google Scholar. It is also the first study that used bibliometric analysis to evaluate the quality of results retrieved.
In recent years, social games such as ‘Farmville’ and ‘Pokémon Go’ have become a major game type in the gaming industry. This study examines the importance of different factors in social games using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and DEMATEL. The result shows ‘social norm’ as the most important factor overall. It is also found that ‘pleasure’ and ‘sociability’ are the most important aspects in ‘perceived enjoyment’. Regarding key aspects in each factor, ‘flow experience’ is crucial in ‘perceived attractiveness’, ‘game fairness’ largely influential in ‘social norm’, and ‘reputation of platform and service provider’ a decisive aspect in ‘platform service and corporate image’. These findings and analyses are apt references for social game providers to improve their services.
This paper presents a comparative evaluation of Google Scholar and 11 other bibliographic databases (Academic Search Elite, AgeLine, ArticleFirst, EconLit, GEOBASE, MEDLINE, PAIS International, POPLINE, Social Sciences Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index, and SocINDEX), focusing on search performance within the multidisciplinary field of later-life migration. The results of simple keyword searches are evaluated with reference to a set of 155 relevant articles identified in advance. In terms of both recall and precision, Google Scholar performs better than most of the subscription databases. This finding, based on a rigorous evaluation procedure, is contrary to the impressions of many early reviewers. The paper concludes with a discussion of a new approach to document relevance in educational settings—an approach that accounts for the instructors' goals as well as the students' assessments of relevance.
A study developed and validated new scales for perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which were hypothesized to be fundamental determinants of user acceptance. The definitions of the 2 variables were used to develop scale items that were pretested for content validity. The items were then tested for reliability and construct validity in 2 studies involving a total of 152 users and 4 application programs. After refining and streamlining the measures, the resulting 2 scales of 6 items each demonstrated reliabilities of .98 for usefulness and .94 for ease of use. The scales also exhibited high convergent, discriminant, and factorial validity. In both studies, usefulness had a greater correlation with usage behavior than did ease of use, though both were significantly correlated with current usage and future usage. Regression analyses suggest that perceived ease of use may actually be a casual antecedent to perceived usefulness, as opposed to a direct determinant of system usage.
This research tests and develops the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), introduced by Davis (1986), which attempts to explain end users' attitudes to computing technologies. It introduces several new variables, including compatibility, user characteristics, system rating and the enduser computing satisfaction (EUCS) construct, a surrogate measure for IT success and acceptance. A questionnaire with over seventy items was completed by a large number of users and LISREL, a technique for modelling a system of structural equations, was used to analyse the responses. The output shows the model as a whole fits the data very well and indicates significant relationships between variables in the model. These results confirm that TAM is a valuable tool for predicting attitudes, satisfaction, and usage from beliefs and external variables. They also show that relative advantage of the system contributed most to attitudes and satisfaction. Compatibility (of the system to the task performed) contributed most to usage and was the most important antecedent of the belief variables, including relative advantage.
Google Scholar was released as a beta product in November of 2004. Since then, Google Scholar has been scrutinized and questioned by many in academia and the library field. Our objectives in undertaking this study were to determine how scholarly Google Scholar is in comparison with traditional library resources and to determine if the scholarliness of materials found in Google Scholar varies across disciplines. We found that Google Scholar is, on average, 17.6 percent more scholarly than materials found only in library databases and that there is no statistically significant difference between the scholarliness of materials found in Google Scholar across disciplines.
A study was conducted to explore what could and should be a reasonable response rate in academic studies. One hundred and forty-one papers which included 175 different studies were examined. They were published in the Academy of Management Journal, Human Relations, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Journal of International Business Studies in the years 1975, 1985, and 1995, covering about 200,000 respondents. The average response rate was 55.6 with a standard deviation of 19.7. Variations among the journals such as the year of publication and other variables were discussed. Most notable is the decline through the years (average 48.4, standard deviation of 20.1, in 1995), the lower level found in studies involving top management or organizational representatives (average 36.1, standard deviation of 13.3), and the predominance of North American studies. It is suggested that the average and standard deviation found in this study should be used as a norm for future studies, bearing in mind the specific reference group. It is also recommended that a distinction is made between surveys directed at individual participants and those targeting organizational representatives.
The present research develops and tests a theoretical extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that explains perceived usefulness and usage intentions in terms of social influence and cognitive instrumental processes. The extended model, referred to as TAM2, was tested using longitudinal data collected regarding four different systems at four organizations (N = 156), two involving voluntary usage and two involving mandatory usage. Model constructs were measured at three points in time at each organization: preimplementation, one month postimplementation, and three months postimplementation. The extended model was strongly supported for all four organizations at all three points of measurement, accounting for 40%--60% of the variance in usefulness perceptions and 34%--52% of the variance in usage intentions. Both social influence processes (subjective norm, voluntariness, and image) and cognitive instrumental processes (job relevance, output quality, result demonstrability, and perceived ease of use) significantly influenced user acceptance. These findings advance theory and contribute to the foundation for future research aimed at improving our understanding of user adoption behavior.
Computer systems cannot improve organizational performance if they aren't used. Unfortunately, resistance to end-user systems by managers and professionals is a widespread problem. To better predict, explain, and increase user acceptance, we need to better understand why people accept or reject computers. This research addresses the ability to predict peoples' computer acceptance from a measure of their intentions, and the ability to explain their intentions in terms of their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and related variables. In a longitudinal study of 107 users, intentions to use a specific system, measured after a one-hour introduction to the system, were correlated 0.35 with system use 14 weeks later. The intention-usage correlation was 0.63 at the end of this time period. Perceived usefulness strongly influenced peoples' intentions, explaining more than half of the variance in intentions at the end of 14 weeks. Perceived ease of use had a small but significant effect on intentions as well, although this effect subsided over time. Attitudes only partially mediated the effects of these beliefs on intentions. Subjective norms had no effect on intentions. These results suggest the possibility of simple but powerful models of the determinants of user acceptance, with practical value for evaluating systems and guiding managerial interventions aimed at reducing the problem of underutilized computer technology.
TAM specifies a pathway of technology acceptance, from external variables to beliefs, attitudes, and system usage. We tested one of its assumptions that the ‘perceived ease-of-use’ and ‘perceived usefulness’ constructs fully mediate the influence of external variables on usage behaviors. Using a survey of 125 employees of a U.S. Government agency we found, contrary to the normally accepted assumption, that external variables could have direct effects on usage behavior over and above their indirect effects. We also found that TAM is significantly and consistently better at predicting frequency than volume of usage.
This paper evaluates the content of Google Scholar and seven other databases (Academic Search Elite, AgeLine, ArticleFirst, GEOBASE, POPLINE, Social Sciences Abstracts, and Social Sciences Citation Index) within the multidisciplinary subject area of later-life migration. Each database is evaluated with reference to a set of 155 core articles selected in advance—the most important studies of later-life migration published from 1990 to 2000. Of the eight databases, Google Scholar indexes the greatest number of core articles (93%) and provides the most uniform publisher and date coverage. It covers 27% more core articles than the second-ranked database (SSCI) and 2.4 times as many as the lowest-ranked database (GEOBASE). At the same time, a substantial proportion of the citations provided by Google Scholar are incomplete (32%) or presented without abstracts (33%).
The explosion in Internet usage and huge government funding initiatives in digital libraries have drawn attention to research on digital libraries. Whereas the traditional focus of digital library research has been on the technological development, there is now a call for user-focused research. Although millions of dollars have been spent on building 'usable' systems, research on digital libraries has shown that potential users may not use the systems in spite of their availability. There is a need for research to identify the factors that determine users’ adoption of digital libraries. Using the technology acceptance model (TAM) as a theoretical framework, this study investigates the effect of a set of individual differences (computer self-efficacy and knowledge of search domain) and system characteristics (relevance, terminology, and screen design) on intention to use digital libraries. Based on a sample of 585 users of a university’s award-winning digital library, the results strongly support the utilization of TAM in predicting users’ intention to adopt digital libraries, and demonstrate the effects of critical external variables on behavior intention through perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. All of the individual differences and system characteristics have significant effects on perceived ease of use of digital libraries. In addition, relevance has the strongest effect on perceived usefulness of digital libraries.
We believe IS researchers can and should do a better of job of improving (assuring) the validity of their findings by minimizing nonresponse error. To demonstrate that there is, in fact, a problem, we first present the response rates reported in six well-regarded IS journals and summarize how nonresponse error was estimated and handled in published IS research. To illustrate how nonresponse error may bias findings in IS research, we calculate its impact on confidence intervals. After demonstrating the impact of nonresponse on research findings, we discuss three post hoc remedies and three preventative measures for the IS researcher to consider. The paper concludes with a general discussion about nonresponse and its implications for IS research practice. In our delimitations section, we suggest directions for further exploring external validity.
Much previous research has established that perceived ease of use is an important factor influencing user acceptance and usage behavior of information technologies. However, very little research has been conducted to understand how that perception forms and changes over time. The current work presents and tests an anchoring and adjustment-based theoretical model of the determinants of system-specific perceived ease of use. The model proposes control (internal and external--conceptualized as computer self-efficacy and facilitating conditions, respectively), intrinsic motivation (conceptualized as computer playfulness), and emotion (conceptualized as computer anxiety) as anchors that determine early perceptions about the ease of use of a new system. With increasing experience, it is expected that system-specific perceived ease of use, while still anchored to the general beliefs regarding computers and computer use, will adjust to reflect objective usability, perceptions of external control specific to the new system environment, and system-specific perceived enjoyment. The proposed model was tested in three different organizations among 246 employees using three measurements taken over a three-month period. The proposed model was strongly supported at all points of measurement, and explained up to 60% of the variance in system-specific perceived ease of use, which is twice as much as our current understanding. Important theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
This article investigates the relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty. More specifically the moderator effect of elaboration upon the relationship between two different types of consumer satisfaction and true brand loyalty is investigated. First, in defining brand loyalty, a distinction is made between repeat purchasing behavior and brand loyalty. Next, true brand loyalty is distinguished from spurious brand loyalty. Second, two types of consumer satisfaction are distinguished based on the amount of elaboration upon the evaluation of the brand choice: manifest satisfaction and latent satisfaction. It is hypothesized that the positive relationship between manifest satisfaction and true brand loyalty is stronger than the positive relationship between latent satisfaction and true brand loyalty. In other words, a moderator effect of the amount of elaboration upon the relationship between consumer satisfaction and true brand loyalty is expected and found. Also, some other effects are found indicating that the relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty is not simple and straightforward.
Citation analysis is an important tool used to trace scholarly research, measure impact, and justify tenure and funding decisions. Web of Science, which indexes peer-reviewed journal literature, has been the major research database for citation tracking. Changes in scholarly communication, including preprint/postprint servers, technical reports available via the internet, and open access e-journals are developing rapidly, and traditional citation tracking using Web of Science may miss much of this new activity. Two new tools are now available to count citations: Scopus and Google Scholar. This paper presents a case study comparing the citation counts provided by Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar for articles from the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST) published in 1985 and in 2000 using a paired t-test to determine statistical significance. Web of Science provided the largest citation counts for the 1985 articles, although this could not be tested statistically. For JASIST articles published in 2000, Google Scholar provided statistically significant higher citation counts than either Web of Science or Scopus, while there was no significant difference between Web of Science and Scopus. The implications for measuring impact in a changing scholarly communication environment are examined.
Library guides to Google Scholar reveal the concerns and fears of librarians as they watch their users slip further and further outside of their domain of influence. Comparing these fears against data from re- cent surveys and studies of students and faculty suggests that a profound change in the role of the library in relation to how users search for and dis- cover information has been underway for some time, and that Google Scholar is only the most recent and visible manifestation of that revolu- tion. (Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.)
With the introduction of Google Scholar in November 2004, research libraries faced the decision of whether to integrate this "blended" resource into their collections and services via their library Web sites. The authors are members of a Web Advisory Committee and present a case study detailing Rutgers University Libraries' experience with integrating Google Scholar onto the library's Web site. A descriptive study of all ARL univer- sity members' library Web sites also was undertaken to determine how other academic libraries were treating Google Scholar in July 2005. Did ARL libraries place Google Scholar on alphabetical lists of indexes and databases, subject guides, or in OPACs, for instance? Results from this study are presented and implications of putting Google Scholar on the Web site are discussed for all major user groups.
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore and expose some of the many facets of Google Scholar™ that have set the academic library world on edge. Google Scholar™'s impact on reference and information literacy is considered, as are the challenges it poses for the library's web site.
Design/methodology/approach
Includes opinions in a point/counterpoint format, as well as citations to recently published literature.
Findings
Provides arguments about ignoring or leveraging the teachings of Scholar Google™ in conjunction with teaching the library's various subscription databases available through the library's web site.
Originality/value
This paper fills an identified information need by offering original, practical advice to librarians.
As libraries expand their services into the world of federated searching, librarians need to work with users to discover what their expectations are and how the library can customize the software to meet users' expectations. This article describes the user testing performed at Texas A&M University during 2005 as the libraries implemented a new federated search service called Search Now (ExLibris' MetaLib). Over fifty volunteers–including undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and library faculty and staff–helped to test the new system and offered suggestions for improvements. Problems were noted and, where possible, modifications were made to improve results. These modifications were then tested again. Major issues noted during the usability testing included: user expectations of search performance; information included in and the layout of the search results; availability of advanced search options; and lack of ability to limit by format, scholarly nature of journal, date and full-text availability. Suggestions for further development are also presented.
Use of the Google search engine is commonplace amongst all sectors of the academic community. The development of the specialist Google Scholar search service will benefit the academic community in bringing to their attention content more relevant to their needs. The vast number of Web sites containing potentially relevant information requires a search engine ranging over many millions of Web sites but with the ability to target very specific types of information. The Google Scholar service has the potential to grow if it develops close contacts with both providers and users of academic information. Use of Google Scholar will benefit the authors and managers of open access content, but there are opportunities for all types of academic content providers in the way Google Scholar is set up. Google Scholar will face competition and have to keep pace with user expectations and technological developments.
The introduction of Google Scholar in November 2004 was accompanied by fanfare, skepticism, and numerous questions about the scope and coverage of this database. Nearly one year after its inception, many of these questions remain unanswered. This study compares the contents of 47 different databases with that of Google Scholar. Included in this investigation are tests for Google Scholar publication date and publication language bias, as well as a study of upload frequency. Tests show Google Scholar's current strengths to be coverage of science and medical databases, open access databases, and single publisher databases. Current weaknesses include lack of coverage of social science and humanities databases and an English language bias.
A model is proposed which expresses consumer satisfaction as a function of expectation and expectancy disconfirmation. Satisfaction, in turn, is believed to influence attitude change and purchase intention. Results from a two-stage field study support the scheme for consumers and nonconsumers of a flu inoculation.
There are a growing number of articles on the juncture of Google Scholar and libraries; this article seeks to address the ability of this resource to meet the information needs of students and researchers using the ACRL Information Literacy Standards. Each standard is applied to Google Scholar in this examination, and recommendations for how librarians might respond are offered.
Almost three years after Google Scholar's inception, only a third of Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) member libraries link to it from their Web sites. This article reports the results of a July 2007 survey of OhioLINK academic librarians, conducted to find out about their attitudes and current practices regarding promotion of Google Scholar. It compares the findings about placement of Google Scholar on Web sites and inclusion in library instruction with previous research, and includes recommendations for libraries about Google Scholar.
Library guides to Google Scholar reveal the concerns and fears of librarians as they watch their users slip further and further outside of their domain of influence. Comparing these fears against data from recent surveys and studies of students and faculty suggests that a profound change in the role of the library in relation to how users search for and discover information has been underway for some time, and that Google Scholar is only the most recent and visible manifestation of that revolution.
Since the unveiling of Google Scholar (GS), academic libraries have struggled with the question of how and where (and in some cases, whether) to integrate GS into the suite of research resources they present to their users. This paper presents a critical evaluation of GS, examining its arrangement, authority, content, comparability with traditional indexing services, creation and currency, and usability, and offers tentative conclusions about its “fit.“
Offering workshops on Google Scholar and Google Book Search, and including them in library instruction sessions, gives librarians a new opportunity to connect with their user communities. By adopting and marketing these and similar databases, librarians can open up new avenues of research for their users, both in Google's domain and in the realm of more traditional library research.
How does the content of Google Scholar, a.k.a. “Schoogle,” compare to that of subscription databases and the library catalog? Five sample research topics indigenous to undergraduate libraries were searched in Google Scholar, the College of Charleston online catalog, EBSCO's Academic Search Premier database, and a subject-specific subscription database. Points of consideration included document type, availability of full-text materials, local availability of materials (either in print or online), and relevance of materials to the research topics. Results showed that Google Scholar, while a substantive supplementary research tool, does not provide the same quality in terms of relevance for many research topics.
In a comparison of Google Scholar, Windows Live Search Academic, and Serials Solutions' Central Search, relevant retrieval increases in direct relation to the complexity of the search interface. Central Search, as customized for Florida Gulf Coast University Library, permits far more complex searching than Google Scholar or Windows Academic and performs better than its simpler competitors. However, a close review of sample searches in these three databases reveals that the simpler, more streamlined interfaces may be equally useful, depending on the user's preference, and the information need.
Offering expediently delivered, serviceable results, Google Scholar is gaining increasing recognition and acceptance in academia. Inasmuch as it rivals and competes with traditional library resources such as proprietary subscription databases, it is poised to alter how research is conducted. In so doing, it poses both challenges and opportunities for those providing bibliographic instruction. This paper assesses the virtues and drawbacks of Google Scholar as a research tool and concludes that, in the absence of a viable alternative, instructional librarians must come to terms with it.
With the development of the Internet in the era of knowledge-driven economy, e-learning is experiencing rapid growth. The online learning course websites are drawing more attention as well. This research combines the innovation diffusion theory and the technology acceptance model, and adds two research variables, perceived system quality and computer self-efficacy to propose a new hybrid technology acceptance model to study students' behavioural intentions to use the online learning course websites. This research finds that compatibility, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived system quality and computer self-efficacy were critical factors for students' behavioural intentions to use the online learning course websites. By explaining students' behavioural intentions from a user's perspective, the findings of this research help to develop more user-friendly websites and also provide insight into the best way to promote new e-learning tools for students.
University administrators are continuously investing in Information Technology (IT) to support learning and help deal with educational budget cuts. Instructors are increasingly making their teaching materials available on the Internet. While administrators and instructors would like to make the Internet an effective educational tool, they need to understand what their students’ attitudes towards using it are. Since the use of the Internet in university education is still in its early stages, many issues regarding its use have not been fully addressed. This study was conducted to provide a better understanding of how the Internet is used in university learning from a student's perspective. Our research framework is based on the Theory of Reasoned Action, Technology Acceptance Model, and IT Diffusion Process Model. We use a survey conducted among university students to explore these issues. Research findings provide some useful insights for university administrators and educators.
The increasing competitiveness in electronic business is motivating varying research on the principal antecedents of consumer loyalty. However, previous research is too scarce, so that there are notable aspects which must be analyzed in-depth. This research has focused on new topics about the development of online consumer loyalty, such as the role of familiarity and usability. Firstly, we analyze the effect of usability, reputation and satisfaction on consumer loyalty. The results have revealed the existence of a positive and significant influence of reputation and satisfaction on website loyalty. Secondly, we confirm the influence of usability on consumer satisfaction. Thirdly, we assess the moderating role of consumer familiarity on the relationships proposed in the research model. The analyses have shown that usability plays a special role in the loyalty formation process. At reduced levels of familiarity usability influences on loyalty through consumer satisfaction (indirect effect). However, if familiarity increases then perceived usability influences on loyalty not only through its effect on satisfaction, but also in a direct way. Consequently, higher levels of familiarity mean that the weight of usability in the explanation of website loyalty is higher. Finally, several conclusions, managerial suggestions, limitations and future research lines are proposed.
For college writers, a key element of academic literacy is the ability to locate, select, evaluate, synthesize, and cite outside sources in their own writing. This study surveyed 543 college students to identify (a) their preferred criteria when evaluating Internet-based and library-based sources and (b) types of instruction students typically receive in evaluating those sources. Students writing research reports (63% of students) generally ranked most highly sources that were easy to use and easy to find, whether those sources were library-based or Internet-based (r = 0.700, p < .01). Nearly 60% of all students received library training, which came most frequently from high school teachers. Nearly 29% of all students received Internet training, which came most frequently from student peers.
We performed a study to determine the influence that perceived usability has on the user's loyalty to websites that they visit. The results of the empirical analysis confirmed that the trust of the user increases when the user perceived that the system was usable and that there was a consequent increase in the degree of website loyalty. In the same way, greater usability was found to have a positive influence on user satisfaction, and this also generated greater website loyalty. Finally, it was found that user trust was partially dependent on the degree of consumer website satisfaction.
This study measured the degree of Google Scholar adoption within academia by analyzing the frequency of Google Scholar appearances on 948 campus and library Web sites, and by ascertaining the establishment of link resolution between Google Scholar and library resources. Results indicate a positive correlation between the implementation of Google Scholar link resolution and the degree of Google Scholar adoption.
This paper investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer loyalty in an online business-to-consumer (B2C) context. We identify eight factors (the 8Cs—customization, contact interactivity, care, community, convenience, cultivation, choice, and character) that potentially impact e-loyalty and develop scales to measure these factors. Data collected from 1,211 online customers demonstrate that all these factors, except convenience, impact e-loyalty. The data also reveal that e-loyalty has an impact on two customer-related outcomes: word-of- mouth promotion and willingness to pay more.
While the use of a search engine to find secondary sources is now a commonplace practice among undergraduate writers, recent studies show that students' online searches often lead to materials that are wholly or partially unsuitable for academic purposes. Accordingly, this project set out to determine whether using a more specialized search engine, Google Scholar, would lead to qualitative differences in the sources selected by second-language (L2) students working on a research-based assignment in a first-year English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. The participants in this study (N = 27) were required to submit an annotated bibliography consisting of ten sources, sought from print or electronic media, on their research topic. Students were required to indicate how these sources were located (e.g., Google, Google Scholar, the university library's catalogue of electronic resources, or a traditional search for print materials). Three independent raters, who were not given any information on the search mechanisms used, evaluated each electronic source (N = 72) using WATCH, an analytic website assessment scale, [Stapleton, P., & Helms-Park, R. (2006). Evaluating Web sources in an EAP course: Introducing a multi-trait instrument for feedback and assessment. English for specific Purposes, 25(4) 438–455.]. Mann–Whitney comparisons revealed no significant differences between sources obtained through Google Scholar and the university library's catalogue of electronic resources (p set at ≤ 0.05). On the other hand, there were significant differences between Google Scholar and Google sources, as well as between electronic sources obtained through the library and Google, in key areas such as academic rigor and objectivity.
We address the following questions that are becoming increasingly important to managers in service industries: Are the levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty for the same service different when customers choose the service online versus offline? If yes, what factors might explain these differences? How is the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty in the online environment different from that in the offline environment? We propose a conceptual framework and develop hypotheses about the effects of the online medium on customer satisfaction and loyalty and on the relationships between satisfaction and loyalty. We test the hypotheses through a simultaneous equation model using two data sets of online and offline customers of the lodging industry. The results are somewhat counterintuitive in that they show that whereas the levels of customer satisfaction for a service chosen online is the same as when it is chosen offline, loyalty to the service provider is higher when the service is chosen online than offline. We also find that loyalty and satisfaction have a reciprocal relationship such that each positively reinforces the other, and this relationship between overall satisfaction and loyalty is further strengthened online.
We conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of previous research on the technology acceptance model (TAM) in an attempt to make well-grounded statements on the role of subjective norm. Furthermore, we compared TAM results by taking into account moderating effects of one individual-related factor (type of respondents), one technology-related factor (type of technology), and one contingent factor (culture). Results indicated a significant influence of subjective norm on perceived usefulness and behavioral intention to use. Moderating effects were found for all three factors. The findings yielded managerial implications for both intra-company and market-based settings.
Purpose
– This paper aims to report on an investigation into ways in which end‐users perceived citation database interfaces, especially citation database interfaces' usability.
Design/methodology/approach
– The investigation used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs of usefulness and ease of use to assess acceptance of citation database interfaces by university graduate students. A structural equation model was used to fit and validate the Citation Database Interface Acceptance Model (CDIAM).
Findings
– Causal relationships between the constructs considered by the CDIAM were well supported, accounting for 95 per cent of total variance in citation database interface acceptance and usage. The study concluded that perceived usefulness, and not ease of use of citation database interface, is a key determinant of their acceptance and usage. The results of the construct measurement for perceived usefulness and ease of use in this research are quite consistent with the results reported in recent research.
Originality/value
– Study findings may help to evaluate human‐computer interaction using the MIS‐proven TAM and improve usability of the citation database system.
Underutilization of Web-based subscription databases and the importance of promoting them have been recognized in previous research. To determine the factors affecting user acceptance of Web-based subscription databases, this study tests an integrated model of the antecedents and consequences of user beliefs about intended use by extending the technology acceptance model. The research employs a cross-sectional field study using a Web survey method targeting undergraduate students who have experience with Web-based subscription databases. Overall, the research model performs well in explaining user acceptance of Web-based subscription databases. The effects of the cognitive instrumental determinants of usefulness perceptions are examined. Terminology clarity and accessibility were found to be important determinants for ease of use of the databases. The results indicate that user training has no impact on either perceptions of usefulness or ease of use, and that there is a need to reexamine the effectiveness of user training in the context of Web-based subscription databases. The results suggest that user acceptance of the databases depends largely on the utility they offer. The findings also suggest that although a subjective norm does not directly affect intended use, it exerts a positive influence on user beliefs about the utility of the databases. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
This study develops three alternative models of academic library Web site usage based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The three alternative models depict relationships among various intrinsic and extrinsic determinant factors of an academic library's Web site usage. The four factors included in the models are perceived ease-of-use, perceived usefulness, service functionality, and task functionality. These four factors are hypothesized to affect directly or indirectly both factors of satisfaction and intention-to-use. LISREL analysis using survey data shows that the best-fit model is the “Dual Mediation Impact” Model. Research and managerial implications for the academic library are discussed. Future research directions and limitations also are provided.
Purpose
This paper aims to understand how students experience the search tools Google Scholar and Metalib and the role of prior instruction.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 32 undergraduate students searched academic articles for their thesis work. Searches were recorded using Morae software and were analysed along with the number of articles saved and responses to a questionnaire. All searched with both tools. Half of the students received training before searching.
Findings
Google Scholar performed better in almost all measures. Training had a positive effect on the amount and quality of articles saved. Responses to Google Scholar were more positive than to Metalib. However, the students were not overwhelmingly enthusiastic about either of the tools. Research limitations/implications – Each Metalib implementation is to some extent unique, which limits the extent to which results can be generalised to other implementations.
Practical implications
Training is valuable for both tools. The user interface to Metalib does not conform with students' expectations and needs further improvement. Both tools strive to be a first alternative search tool for academic literature but neither performed well enough in this study to recommend it to be used in that role in an academic library setting.
Originality/value
These tools are important to academic libraries but few user studies have been published, particularly on Google Scholar. To one's knowledge no other user study on these tools has looked at the effects of instruction.