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STM End-User Survey Part 1 – Scientists and Engineers

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Author: Daniel Pollock, Vice President & Lead Analyst

Scientists and engineers are important information consumers, spending between one-quarter and one-third of their work week gathering and analyzing information. They continue to encounter problems accessing the information they need, and this report provides valuable insight into opportunities for information providers to improve information products and so drive revenue. Outsell has tracked the information behaviors and preferences of scientists and engineers for eight years, and this report features our latest research on this user population. It analyzes their current information needs and habits, and considers implications for the IM functions that serve them and the information providers that supply them. The report contains:

- An overview profile of scientists and engineers as information consumers, including how they use information, top information types used, and their satisfaction levels with major vendors;
- Data and analysis of scientists’ and engineers’ information habits and unmet needs;
- A detailed look at this group’s use of interactive media;
- Data and analysis of scientists’ and engineers’ information spending and purchasing – the money flow;
- Essential actions for publishers and information providers serving scientists and engineers.


We provide a link to download a PDF at the end of the purchase process.

Pub Date: June 11, 2009
Type: Market Report
Segments: STM B2B MRRS SAS
Keywords: Users, STM Publishing
Pages: 29
Format: PDF Application_pdf


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Download PDF table of contents

Table of Contents

  • Why This Market?
  • Methodology
  • Overview Profile of Scientists and Engineers
  • Information Use and Behaviors
    1. Information Use and Behaviors: Summary
  • Interactive Media
  • Spending and Purchasing
  • Essential Actions
  • Related Research

    • Tables & Figures

  • Table 1. Scientists and Engineers: How They Apply Information
  • Table 2. Top Information Types Used by Scientists and Engineers
  • Table 3. Views about Various Vendors and Products – Scientists
  • Table 4. Views about Various Vendors and Products – Engineers
  • Figure 1. Where People Go to Seek Information
  • Figure 2. Time Spent Gathering and Analyzing Information
  • Figure 3. Search Failure Rate
  • Table 5. Problems Getting Information
  • Table 6. Unmet Information Needs
  • Figure 4. Top Five Handheld Devices
  • Figure 5. Percentage of Scientists and Engineers Using Social Networking Sites
  • Figure 6. Purpose for Using Social Networking Sites
  • Figure 7. Do Fee or Free Information Services Provide Higher Quality Information?
  • Figure 8. Purchase Information as Independent Decision
  • Figure 9. Preferred Pricing Model
  • Figure 10. Median Annual Spending
  • Figure 11. Disposition of Information Purchased by Individuals
  • Figure 12. Individual Information Spending, by Format
  • Table 7. Spending by Information Type – Scientists and Engineers

Companies Mentioned

  1. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
  2. Blackwell Science Ltd.
  3. Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)
  4. Dialog
  5. EBSCO Industries, Inc.
  6. Elsevier
  7. Factiva
  8. GlobalSpec, Inc.
  9. Google, Inc.
  10. IHS Engineering
  11. Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
  12. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  13. Knovel Corporation
  14. LexisNexis
  15. Nerac, Inc.
  16. ProQuest LLC
  17. Questel
  18. Thomas Industrial Networks
  19. Thomson Business Intelligence
  20. Wolters Kluwer nv