From Abstract to Relevant: Encouraging Access to Journals

The article discusses and evaluates a project designed to gain understanding of students’ attitudes towards using journals in their academic assignments, based on evidence that some students made little use of journals and library-run training opportunities.
Results of a questionnaire showed that students generally had a positive view of journals, but there were numerous remarks about the difficulty of accessing relevant material. Tutors have a large influence in students’ perception and use of journals. Students from different subjects accessed journals in different ways, but students who had been on workshops were more likely to use an electronic index. However, many former workshop attendees still had limited confidence in finding journal articles, and a model of repeated skills development is proposed.
Implications for resource acquisition and access are discussed and the importance of working with academics to promote and deliver skills workshops is stressed. It is suggested that an institutional Information and IT Literacy policy would be helpful in developing and embedding an ongoing skills development programme.