Improving Student Success: Researching How Students Use Electronic Library Resources Page: 13
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Although library users were asked specifically about UNT electronic resources, three library
users mentioned that they start with Google and then go to UNT library website. One of the
library users mentioned: "I don't always think of the library first. "
Strengths of UNT Electronic Resources
We asked library users about the strengths of UNT electronic resources as well as the reasons for
using these resources. Major findings are mentioned below:
* UNT electronic resources provide access to a lot of resources.
Library users mentioned that they can access full text articles for free via UNT electronic
resources.
* UNT electronic resources provide access to resources other than journals, such as
financial databases, music databases, books/e-books, and dissertations. They also
referred to Inter Library Loan (ILL) service as one of the reasons for using UNT
electronic resources.
* UNT electronic resources provide more credible and relevant search results
compared to Google search. Library users indicated that their research process will lead
to more reliable and credible results if they find the resources in UNT electronic
resources.
* UNT electronic resources provide the option of using electronic folders and personal
accounts while doing online research and the possibility to resume search within a
database with the same keyword. This reason was mainly mentioned by graduate
students.
* Instructions by professors that ask students to use UNT electronic resources and
provide the link to specific UNT electronic resources with instructions about how use
them, recommend some resources, and/or put the links to the electronic resources on
Blackboard.
Barriers to Using UNT Electronic Resources
We asked library users what are the barriers to using UNT electronic resources as well as the
challenges they have faced while using these resources and found three major reasons:
* Search difficulties
These barriers include all the difficulties and challenges library users have faced while
doing research in UNT electronic resources. These difficulties are as follows:
- Complex and not library user friendly: 45% of library users referred to this
problem. One library user said:
"It's very stratified. Everything's embedded and it's just like a little family tree in
there, you have to keep going down different folders and it's a pain. I think it's a little
unorganized, or not very well organized. "
Another library user mentioned:
"It was like a maze getting to it, but I remember when I finally found my article, I was
so tired ofsearching for it. I didn't want to read the article because it took me so long
to find the one that I needed. "13
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Henry, Lisa; Carlson, Steve; Cheatham, Dennis; Gorby, Megan; Leach, Matt; McAllister, Guenivere et al. Improving Student Success: Researching How Students Use Electronic Library Resources, paper, December 14, 2010; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc32898/m1/13/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT College of Public Affairs and Community Service.