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.