Use of E-Journals by Research Scholars in University Libraries in Andhra Pradesh

1. IntroductionLibrary contains the different types of reading materials namely books, periodicals, maps, microforms, sound recordings, video recordings, electronic resources etc. These are procured to meet the information requirements of the user community.It is necessary to conduct user studies to examine the use of these reading materials to design a need-based acquisition policy, develop a balanced collection in the prevailing environment of diminishing budgetary provisions and maximize the use of collection.One of the main functions of the university is the creation of new knowledge by research. The university library through its reading materials and services helps in the successful conduct of research programmes of the university. In this context, among all the reading materials, periodicals are playing an important role in informing the latest research findings and avoiding the duplication of research work.An increasingly important function of academic libraries today is the provision of right information to their users at the right time. Latest advances in computer applications during the past few decades have brought radical changes in the way information is generated, stored, organized, accessed, retrieved and consumed. The vast speed at which different operations are carried out in an automated environment has attracted information professionals to wards a computer-based system. It has opened floodgates to people to access information through many different ways. The information could be located even at far-off locations and could be in different languages. These capabilities were unheard in the library world before of computers entered into information field. The demand for information and the majority of journals are available electronically. Today, libraries are providing access to e-journals by spending a substantial amount on them. Availability ranges from sites, which provide table of contents only, to those supplying the full text of every issue. Some journals only exist in their online format and others have two different versions. In case of subscription, they may be free or chargeable. The paid subscribers are permitted to browse full text of the article with downloadable facility.The e-journals available in university libraries in India are journals of UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium which is launched in 2003, open access journals and the journals subscribed by the libraries on their own. UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium is providing access to current as well as archival access to more than 7000 core and peer reviewed journals and 10 bibliographical data bases. The present study has been undertaken to examine the use of e-journals in university libraries in Andhra Pradesh as previously no study has been undertaken on that aspect.Earlier StudiesThe following are the major studies conducted on use of e-journals.Bonthron made a study on the use of electronic journals in higher education in U.K. The disciplinary differences in the use of electronic journals by academic staff and students were examined. Chandra Kumar conducted a survey on the research scholars of University of Madras to examine the use and utilization of e-journals using a questionnaire. Murthy examined UGCINFONET e-journals consortium for universities and colleges. The consortia offer the opportunity of providing access to a broader and deeper range of titles than most libraries currently can provide to their communities. Vishala and Bhandi expressed that UGC-INFONET electronic journal consortium is an innovative project launched by University Grant Commission to promote the use of electronic databases and full text access to journals by the research and academic community in the country. Surendra Babu and Pulla Reddy carried out a study on the use of e-journals. The study revealed that most of the users are using both print and electronic journals. Chauhan and Prem Chand described the UGC-Infonet e-journals consortium initiative undertaken by the Indian University Grants Commission (UGC) to facilitate free access to scholarly journals and databases in all fields and disciplines by the research and academic community across the country. …