ERIC Number: ED356799
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1990
Pages: 22
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Students' Attitudes toward ABI/INFORM on CD-ROM: A Factor Analysis.
Wang, Vicky; Lau, Shuk-fong
Two years after the introduction of CD-ROM bibliographic database searching in the Memphis State University libraries (Tennessee), a survey was conducted to examine students' attitudes toward the business database, ABI/INFORM. ABI/INFORM contains indexes and abstracts of articles from over 800 journals on management, accounting, banking, human resources, marketing, and other areas of business. Each compact disk contains bibliographic citations from the last 5 years. An 11-item Likert-type questionnaire was distributed randomly to 180 students in the spring and summer of 1990. A factor analysis was used to analyze the 119 usable surveys that were returned. Three underlying dimensions or factors of students' attitudes were found: (1) perceived costs and benefits; (2) reference service and instruction; and (3) availability of CD-ROM workstations. The findings and implications of the survey are discussed. Factor analysis, conducted with a statistical programming package, facilitates analysis of the relationships among the variables. Three tables present student attitude findings, and an appendix contains the questionnaire. (SLD)
Descriptors: Bibliographic Databases, College Students, Factor Analysis, Higher Education, Information Dissemination, Information Retrieval, Library Services, Likert Scales, Optical Data Disks, Questionnaires, Reference Materials, Reference Services, Student Attitudes, Use Studies, Users (Information)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A