1996 Survey of User Information Needs and Search Methods Results

3.3 Approaches to Information Retrieval

The questionnaire included a series of questions aimed at identifying information sources used by respondents, difficulties encountered in obtaining information and search methods employed.

3.3.1 Sources of Information and Difficulties

3.3.1a) Use Of Media as Information Source

Respondents were asked to rate their use of different media on a scale of 1 to 4, where 4 was very frequent and 1 was never.

3.3.1a) i) Frequency of Media Usage

The following results compare the findings for media where usage was reported to be `frequent' or `very frequent'.

Table : Comparison of Media Usage Classified as Very frequent or Frequent

Media	Number of respondents who classified usage as frequent or very frequent	Percentage of total respondents who classified usage as frequent or very frequent	Ranking
Books/ Periodicals	664	94%	1
CD ROM	223	31%	4
E Mail	288	41%	2
Film/ Video	189	21%	5
Internet	247	35%	3

The results indicate that books and periodicals are by far the most common source of information. The Email category, which was the second most frequently used medium, may include both passive receipt of information and active interpersonal communication, such as intradepartmental messaging and participation in discussion groups.

Analysis of the same results by role (see Appendix C) indicates that books and periodicals were always selected as the most frequently used media. Email and the Internet were either ranked in second or third place, with the exception of Librarians where CD ROM was in second place and Internet in forth.

Considering the same results by subject groups (see Appendix D), books and periodicals were always the most frequently used media. Email and the Internet in second or third place for all subject areas, with the exception of Fine Art where Film/Video and the Internet were very closely ranked in third and forth places.

3.3.1a) ii) Variety of Media Usage.

Appendix E gives details of responses (by Role/Function and Subject group) for those who indicated that they never used any of the media, other than books or periodicals, as an information source. For the Role/Function categories, the percentage of such responses was 5% or less, except in the Museum Curators category where 21% indicated that they never used any of the other media options. For the Subject groups, the percentage was always 6% or lower, except for Museums/Conservation where the figure was 13%.

3.3.1b) Difficulties in Obtaining Information

Respondents were asked to indicate whether they ever encountered difficulty in obtaining information. Overall, 78% indicated some difficulty. An analysis of this figure by Role/Function, illustrates a range of response varying from 50% to 90% across the population.

Table showing Number of Respondents by
Role/Function who had encountered difficulty
in obtaining information

Category	Number	% within category
Teaching/ Research	167	78%
Students	47	90%
Librarians	142	77%
Museum Curators	39	83%
Practitioners	53	50%
Other	74	70%
All	551	78%

The Role/Function groups who reported the greatest proportion of their number experiencing difficulty were Students and Museum Curators, with Practitioners giving the lowest proportion within their group.

The variation in response between Subject group was narrower than between Role/Function groups (refer to Appendix F for details). The proportion of respondents, by subject group, who experienced difficulty in obtaining information varied from 73% to 88%, with Design indicating the greatest difficulty.

3.3.1c) Reason for Experiencing Difficulties in Obtaining Information

Those respondents who reported difficulty in obtaining information were asked to identify one or more reasons.

Table showing Reason for difficulty encountered for all responses

Reason for difficulty	Number of respondents	Percentage of total respondents	Ranking
Locating material	430	61%	1
Availability	327	46%	3
Speed	376	53%	2
Gaining Access	296	42%	4
Cost	253	36%	5
Other	18	3%	6

Appendix G contains a breakdown by reason, for each Role/Function group. The reasons for experiencing difficulty have been ranked for each group, with the highest ranking assigned to the reason for which the greatest percentage of responses were indicated. The results for all groups indicated that `Locating Material', `Speed' and `Availability' were the three most highly ranked reasons, with the exception of Librarians and Museum Curators, where `Gaining Access' was given a higher ranking than `Availability'. For all groups, `Cost' was given ranking of 4th or 5th.

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