Search

Purpose: This paper describes the current state of electronic journal usage among Japanese medical researchers, and discusses the subsequent effect on users' decision whether to read articles on paper or on screen; from what types of full text source they obtain the articles. Methods: The names of 2,033 medical researchers affiliated with 80 medical schools in Japan were extracted and the researchers were surveyed. The questionnaire included questions on: 1) demographic features; 2) whether or not the researcher read the paper from print journals or electronic journals, and the search method used to obtain the most recently read articles; 3) the types of methods used to search for articles; 4) awareness and use of "open access" sites. Results: We received 651 responses (32.3%) between February and March 2007 and analyzed them. The major findings were: 1) 70% of the most recently read articles were electronic journal articles; 2) 80% of the electronic journal articles were provided by academic libraries, while 60% of print journal articles were from private subscription journals; 3) search engines were not used, but PubMed was used primarily to search either print or electronic journal articles; 4) in general, open access methods were not recognized by researchers as one possible route for obtaining the articles although PubMed Central constituted about 10% of the most recently read electronic journal articles; 5) no significant differences relating to article usage patterns were observed among age groups, however, large differences were found among fields of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Japanese public library community is struggling with the issue of protecting the confidentiality of user information, because this is a key point in obtaining users' trust. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the community's efforts are consistent with its aims. Results: Japanese libraries are often requested to delete user information as soon as possible in order to protect user privacy. This policy is not only based on strengthening sensitivity to privacy, but also on the fact that police have ordered the disclosure of user information repeatedly in the past, and, by complying with their legal duties, librarians get labeled as disloyal. However, it is difficult to implement customized services like Amazon's recommendations without collecting user information, and the lack of such innovative client-centered services causes public libraries to stagnate. Therefore, it is obvious that the library community itself poses the largest hindrance to progress by refusing to improve its own services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]