A profile of faculty reading and information-use behaviors on the cusp of the electronic age

The majority of a university faculty's work deals with information or knowledge-finding, getting, reading, and using it. We analyzed the demographic portion of a library use survey given to faculty and staff of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) to obtain a profile of information-related activities carried out by university faculty. Journal articles were the predominant document type that faculty both read and authored. Faculty averaged 4.2 journal subscriptions per person, of which 84% were paid for personally. Twenty-five percent of the faculty had obtained some funds for information products and of those funded, the median amount provided was $500. Faculty spent 24 minutes per day using e-mail and 78 minutes per week using non-e-mail computer network. Faculty reported publishing 3.0 journal articles per year and 31% of the faculty had won an award for professional contributions in the previous 2 years.