Influence of individual factors in the use of digital libraries: the case of Journals Portal Capes

ABSTRACT This article investigated users and non-users of the Capes Portal to identify independent variables that are determinant to use or non-use of the Portal. The methodological procedure adopted was a web survey sent to 14,763 faculty in 17 Brazilian federal universities, which contained questions on personal and professional characteristics, attitudes to printed versus electronic journals and purposes for using the Internet. With regard to personal characteristics the results indicate that sex is not determinant for the use of the Portal while the variable age is. With regard to professional characteristics, evidences are that the variables area of knowledge, university and academic background are determinant to use. The variable geographic region is not presented as a determinant variable for the use of the Portal. Another observed behavior was preference for both print and electronic forms simultaneously by most respondents. The three main Internet usage purposes indicated by faculty are performing academic research, accessing email and shopping respectively. More qualitative research is recommended to better understanding of some of the results.摘要 本文以巴西高等教育人员发展协调局（Capes）门户的使用者与非使用者为研究对象，旨在识别影响该门户使用与否的决定性自变量。本研究采用网络问卷调查法，共向巴西17所联邦高校的14763名教职员工发放问卷，问卷内容涵盖个人与职业特征、对印刷版与电子版期刊的态度，以及互联网使用目的等方面。在个人特征维度，研究结果显示，性别并非影响该门户使用的决定性因素，而年龄则是显著的影响因素。在职业特征维度，研究证据表明，知识领域、所属高校与学术背景这三个变量均为影响该门户使用的决定性因素。地理区域变量未被认定为影响该门户使用的决定性因素。此外，多数受访者同时表现出对印刷版与电子版两种期刊载体的双重偏好。受访教职员工提及的三大主要互联网使用目的依次为开展学术研究、查阅电子邮件与网络购物。本研究建议开展更多质性研究，以深化对部分研究结果的理解。