The survey, carried out in September-October of 2011 asked students about their use of information resources and follows on from a survey carried out in 2008. More than 6300 responses were received.
Increases in usage between surveys
- Lecture recordings (up 16% from 2008)
- Course management systems (up 13%)
- Google Scholar (up 9%)
- Podcasts (up 8%)
- Print textbooks (up 8%)
Trustworthiness of information
- When it comes to assessing the quality of information students rely on instructor recommendations.
- The numbers who rely on recommendations from librarians has increased by 10% to 77%.
The 'starting point' for ebooks
The library website has decreased in importance for those accessing ebooks (dropping from 74% to 65%) with Google Scholar and course management systems increasing in importance.
The full survey is available to read here.