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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
User SurveyDissertation Information Seeking Behavior
The Survey
Purpose Learn Fundamental Information about: WHO, WHY, WHAT, HOW, WHERE of accessing and using the PQDT database
Number of Participants 3034
Survey Instrument Mostly structured single response questions; two multi-element questions (1-10 scale); two open-ended questions
About PQDT
1743 to current
North America; UK, China (2010), and Beyond!
2.7 million citations
1.2 million full-text PDFs
Full-text Searching (2009, 2008 back file)
Reference Linking (2009, 2008 back file)
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database
BASE N = 2535 (ALL); 1164 (33%) REVIEW THESES ; 525 (21%) FREQUENT USERS
Q: Are you a(n): Undergraduate; graduate student; etc.
Over three quarters (76%) of PQDT users are students. Nearly half (45%) are graduate students, and a third (31%) undergraduates. Post docs and faculty (10%), researchers (6%) and librarians (7%) are occasional users.
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ALL REVIEW THESES FREQ USERS
UNDERGRAD
GRAD STUDENT
POST DOC/FAC
RESEARCHER
LIBRARIANS
PQDT USER SUMMARY
Current Educational Status
BASE N = 2793 (PhD); 2862 (Master’s)
Q: Are you studying for/working on/already completed [master’s/PhD]?
PQDT USERS: % INVOLVED IN MASTER’S OR DOCTORAL PROGRAMS
Nearly half (46%) of those accessing PQDT are either working on their master’s theses (13%) or studying for their doctorate (33%). A majority of users are thus working neither on master’s theses nor doctorates: they are either already qualified as PhDs or are undergraduates.
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WORKING ON MASTER'STHESIS
COMPLETED MASTER'STHESIS
STUDYING FOR PhD NOW
OBTAINED PhD
PARTICIPANT
Survey Participation
BASE N = 2889 (ALL) NOTE; CHART NOT ADDITIVE
Q: Are you a(n): Undergraduate; graduate student; etc.?
PQDT USER SURVEY PARTICIPATION
Just under half (48%) of those who accessed PQDT during the survey viewed full-text doctoral dissertations or master’s theses. About a fifth (22%) had already accessed the database at least five times in the previous month.
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ALL REVIEW THESES FREQ USER UNDERGRAD GRAD STUDENT POST DOC/FAC RESEARCHER LIBRARIAN
Subject Areas
BASE N = 2720
Q: Which of the following subject areas best describes the topic you are researching today?
PQDT USER SUBJECT AREAS
Social sciences (the subject area of concern to 24% of those accessing PQDT), business (22%) and education (18%) are the leading disciplines among PQDT users – accounting for nearly two thirds of all users.
24%
22%
18%
13%
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13%
SOCIAL SCIENCES
BUSINESS
EDUCATION
ARTS & HUM
MED SCIENCE
OTHER
The mix of subject areas associated with using PQDT is consistent among all constituencies. One exception is that undergraduates are much less likely (10%) to be involved in educational topics.
Access
BASE N = 2296
Q: Did you access PQDT on your own initiative or was it suggested to you by someone else?
SEARCH INITIATION INFLUENCE
Two thirds (65%) of those accessing PQDT do so on their own initiative.
65%
14%
11%
7%3%
MY OWN INITIATIVE
FACULTY MEMBER
LIBRARIAN
PEER/COLLEAGUE
THESIS ADVISOR
Undergraduates are more likely than others to have had their PQDT search suggested to them by faculty.
Nature of Search
BASE N = 2262 = 608 = 605 = 1074 = 233
Q: Was this search … of dissertations databases .. more general that .. Included dissertations?
NATURE OF SEARCH/ACCESS
Nearly half (47%) of PQDT users are focused, directing their searches specifically at dissertations. Most undergraduates (71%) are much more likely than others to be conducting general searches that happened to include dissertations.
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ALL FREQ USERS UNDERGRAD GRAD STUDENT POST DOC/FAC
DISSERTATIONS
MORE GENERAL
Aspects of Search
BASE N = 2090 NOTE: STATEMENTS ABBREVIATED IN EXHIBIT
Q: Did any of the following statements apply to this particular search/access?
APPLICABLE ASPECTS OF “THIS” SEARCH
PQDT searches are most often (76%) conducted in relation to a specific topic associated with academic studies. Over half (55%) of searches are part of a more general literature review. Nearly half (46%) of all accesses are specifically seeking dissertations or specific titles (45%).
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HELPING A STUDENT
TOLD WHERE TO SEARCH
PQDT SUGGESTED TO ME
SEARCHIGN FOR TITLE
DISSERTATIONS SPECIFICALLY
LITERATURE REVIEW
SPECIFIC TOPICThe two leading reasons for accessing PQDT (specific topics and literature search) apply to all constituencies
Access to Datasets
BASE N = 1939 = 626 = 487 = 958 = 196
Q: Would you prefer to be able to access the dataset underlying [dissertations]?
INCIDENCE OF PREFERRING ACCESS TO DATASET
A majority (55%) of PQDT users would prefer access to datasets underlying theses and dissertations.
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ALL FREQ USERS UNDERGRAD GRAD STUDENT POST DOC/FAC
YES
NOT SURE
NOT REALLY
BASE N = 1931 = 625 = 484 = 958 = 196
Q: What if any was the influence of your grad school/college library website on .. accessing PQDT?
Influence of library websites in accessing PQDT or the ProQuest platform
It is obvious that PQDT users accord substantial influence and importance to their library websites in accessing this database and the ProQuest platform generally.
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ALL FREQ USERS UNDERGRAD GRAD STUDENT POST DOC/FAC
EXTREMELY
SOMEWHAT
NOT VERY
NOT AT ALL
Importance of Library Websites
PQDT from the Czech users’point of view
PQDT usage in CZ
• NO current subscription to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database in CZ
• BUT fragmentary subfiles available as parts of ABI/INFORM and ProQuest Medical Library – thus available widely within– ProQuest 5000 International – ProQuest Central
• in total approx. 30 000 fulltext dissertations from PQDT available in CZ
PQDT usage in CZ
Institution Downloads ValueMasarykova univerzita 210 $12 600Vysoká škola ekonomická 157 $9 420Univerzita Karlova 62 $3 720Jihočeská univerzita 32 $1 920
PQDT Fulltext Downloads (Jan-Sept 2009)
Standard PQDT download price: $60
PQDT usage in CZ
Hypothetical amount of fulltext downloads (1,2 milllion dissertations instead of 30 000)
Institution Downloads ValueMasarykova univerzita 8400 $504 000Vysoká škola ekonomická 6280 $376 800Univerzita Karlova 2480 $148 800Jihočeská univerzita 1280 $76 800
Standard PQDT download price: $60
PQDT usage in CZ
Alternative view:
PQDT …
… collection of 1,2 million ebooks
Thanks for your attention!!
Vladimír KarenAlbertina icome Praha s.r.o.
[email protected] www.aip.cz
Amanda RossProQuest Publishing
[email protected] www.proquest.co.uk
