Figure and table retrieval from scholarly journal articles: User needs for teaching and research

This paper discusses user needs for a system that indexes tables and figures culled from scientific journal articles. These findings are taken from a comprehensive investigation into scientists' satisfaction with and use of a tables and figures retrieval prototype. Much previous research has examined the usability and features of digital libraries and other online retrieval systems that retrieve either full‐text of journal articles, traditional article‐level abstracts, or both. In contrast, this paper examines the needs of users directly searching for and accessing discrete journal article components – figures, tables, graphs, maps, and photographs – that have been individually indexed.