Abstract: The transition of academic libraries from print to electronic resources is well underway and for most scholars non-engagement with the digital environment has ceased to be an option. The demands placed on the computing skills and understanding of the main features of this environment are considerable, however, and a significant proportion of researchers either fail to take advantage of it or are in fact impeded in their work by their minimal skill sets. We examine the barriers to use of the technology and describe our own experience in training university academics to become more fluent users of electronic information resources. A higher level of engagement by both library and computing staff in training and advocacy is suggested.
Comment. The authors don't specifically discuss self-archiving, but I wonder whether some of the problems they identify might help explain the low rate of self-archiving. The fact that self-archiving is easy doesn't rule this out. Using many electronic resources is even easier. If part of the problem is discomfort with digital technology as such, then it would apply in both domains.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 6/23/2006 03:34:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
