Penn State University Libraries is conducting a survey of all Penn State faculty about the impact of digital technologies on research, teaching and publishing.
The survey will be conducted from Tuesday, March 13, to Tuesday, April 10, in partnership with national research organization Ithaka S+R, and distributed to a University-wide faculty sample via Penn State email invitation on behalf of Barbara I. Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications.
This effort marks the first large-scale survey of faculty conducted by the University Libraries in several years. Its goal is to learn more about:
- the ways that Penn State faculty discover and access scholarly materials in their teaching and research;
- the evolving role at Penn State of the academic research library and of library collections;
- current research and teaching practices, with particular emphasis on how these are changing in light of opportunities created by new technology; and
- the ways in which faculty communicate their research findings through a variety of media.
Results from the survey will impact the Libraries’ strategies for service and resource improvement. Later in the year, Ithaka S+R plans to run a national version of the survey, results from which will provide the University Libraries with benchmarking data.
For each completed survey, the Libraries will donate $2 to Lion’s Pantry, the student food pantry at the University Park campus.
For more information on the survey, contact Steve Borrelli, head of Library Assessment, at smb96@psu.edu or 814-863-1908.