Searching Scientific Information on the Internet by Academics: A User Survey

Abstract

This study examines the use and perceived importance of the Internet amongst academics in University environment. A detailed questionnaire was distributed among the faculty members of Andhra University. The findings revealed that the primary purpose of using the Internet is for research; Full text is most suitable format; consulting e-journals is infrequent; Yahoo and Google are the favourite search engines. Among other findings, the study revealed that searching the World Wide Web is not without difficulty and though the Internet is a good information source, it has not replaced print and is not a panacea for all information questions.