A comparative case study investigated the extent of adoption of computer communication in two schools of communication. S. Ram's model of resistance to innovation was used as a theoretical framework. Subjects, 16 faculty at a medium-sized state school in the southern United States and 16 faculty at a large private institution in the Northeast, were interviewed about their use of Mead Data Central's Lexis/Nexis full-text database service and about electronic mail. Results indicated that innovation characteristics are important factors affecting adoption, as are consumer characteristics. Complexity of the Lexis/Nexis service was not a problem for the respondents. Electronic mail adoption was equally low at both schools. A major distinction between the two schools was the difference in the characteristics of sources of information about the innovations--at the state school, respondents said that only informal sources for Lexis/Nexis information were available. Results also indicated a three-level typology of adopters: (1) advocates on innovation; (2) accommodators of innovation; and (3) avoiders of innovation. Findings provide support for considering resistance as an important concept for the investigation of the adoption process, and that information sources may have significant effects on resistance to the adoption of innovations. (Contains 31 notes and 2 tables of data.) (RS)