DLIST 2005 Survey - Self-Archiving and Scholarly Communication Behaviors in LIS - Instrument


By Anita Coleman


In an attempt to help improve the comparability of open access/self-archiving studies, the instrument used in this study (of LIS scholarly communication/self-archiving behaviors) is modified from: Swan, Alma and Brown, Sheridan. 2005. Open access self-archiving: An author study. Cornwall, UK: Key Perspectives Ltd. URL: http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/814/


Important Note: Some sections are Conditional (depend on answers in Q. 18 & Q. 19)


Section 1: Demographic information

1. What is your disciplinary affiliation?

2. What is your gender? (Male, Female, Decline to state)

3. What is your age range? (Under 40, 41 and above, Decline to state)

4. What is your professional title?

5. Where are you geographically located? (United States and Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America)

6. Are you currently registered with DLIST? (Yes, No, Don’t know, Decline to state)?

7. What is your area of specialization?

8. Are you faculty at an LIS-school? (Yes, No)


Section 2: Knowledge of self-archiving

9. Define self-archiving

10. What is the major difference between a subject repository and an institutional one?

11. Name some open access archives for LIS and indicate whether they are subject or institutional.


Section 3: Research and publishing activities

12. For your own work, when were MOST of the articles you consult – or cite in your own articles – published?


13. Approximately how many articles do you publish each year?


14. What is your average citation count per article?


15. In general, what are your objectives when publishing scholarly work? Please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)


  1. When you search for articles online in CLOSED ARCHIVES (i.e., where you are only allowed access to the full-text of articles in journals you or your library subscribe to), which services do you use regularly?


  1. What services do you use to search the content of OPEN ACCESS ARCHIVES (i.e. where you can access the full-text of any research article)?


Section 5: Experience with self-archiving
18. Do you self archive?


Section 6: Choice of self-archiving avenue (Conditional: only to those who chose Yes in Q. 18)

  1. Do you self-archive in DLIST?


Section 7: Self-Archiving behaviors in DLIST (Conditional: only to those who chose Yes in Q. 19)

20 How often do you visit DLIST?


21. In the past three years, how many times (none, once, 2-3 times, 4-5 times, >5 times) have you deposited full copies of the following version of research papers in the following ways?


22. Have you changed from one way of self-archiving to another (for example, from putting a pre-print up on a personal web page to depositing it in DLIST or vice versa)? If yes, please describe in as much detail as possible your change and the reasons for your change.


23. How did you originally learn about self-archiving in an institutional or subject-based archive (as opposed to using your own web page) as a means to provide open access to your work? Please select any that apply.


24. What was your original motivation for self-archiving your work? Please select any that apply.


25. Who has actually done the self-archiving?


26. How difficult is it to self-archive the first article or the first time?


27. How difficult is it to self-archive the subsequent articles or the subsequent times?


28. How long does it take to self-archive?


29.What are your expectations about the preservation period of self-archived articles?


30. For the last article you self-archived, who retains the copyright?


31. For the last article you self-archived, were you required by the publisher to ask permission to do so?


32. For the last article you self-archived, did you ask permission from the publisher?


33. What types of information have you deposited in the open access archive(s) you use?


34. How long have you been self-archiving in DLIST?


35. Describe the last time you used DLIST including when it was (approximate date is sufficient) and why you chose to use DLIST for this purpose?


36. Which of the following problems have you faced and how often (every time, none, don't remember, other) when self-archiving?


37. Have you contacted an author whose paper you read in DLIST? If yes, please explain your motivation and the outcomes, if no, explain why not.


38. If your employer of research funder REQUIRED you to deposit copies of your articles in an open archive, what would be your reaction?


Section 8: General self-archiving behaviors (Conditional: only to those who chose No in Q.19)

39. Where do you self-archive?


40. In the past three years, how many times (none, once, 2-3 times, 4-5 times, >5 times) have you deposited full copies of the following version of research papers in the following ways?


41. During this time have you changed from one way of self-archiving to another (for example, from putting a pre-print up on a personal web page to depositing it in a subject repository or vice versa)? If yes, please describe in as much detail as possible your change and the reasons for your change.


42. How did you originally learn about self-archiving in an institutional or subject-based archive (as opposed to using your own web page) as a means to provide open access to your work? Please select any that apply.


43. What was your original motivation for self-archiving your work? Please select any that apply.


44. Who has actually done the self-archiving?


45. How difficult is it to self-archive the first article or the first time?


46. How difficult is it to self-archive the subsequent articles or the subsequent times?


47. How long does it take to self-archive?


48.What are your expectations about the preservation period of self-archived articles?


49. For the last article you self-archived, who retains the copyright?


50. For the last article you self-archived, were you required by the publisher to ask permission to do so?


51. For the last article you self-archived, did you ask permission from the publisher?


52. How long have you been self-archiving?


53. What types of information have you deposited in the open access archive(s) you use?


54. Which of the following problems have you faced and how often (every time, none, don't remember, other) when self-archiving?


55. If your employer of research funder REQUIRED you to deposit copies of your articles in an open archive, what would be your reaction?

Section 9: No self-archiving and non-use of DLIST (Conditional: Only to those who have identified themselves as non-users – Q. 18)


56. Are you aware of the possibility of providing open access by self-archiving your work in open access archives?


57. If you do not self-archive at all, please describe your reasons for not self-archiving.


58. How likely (most likely, don’t know/no opinion, not at all likely, maybe/it depends) is it that you will self-archive in the next:


59. Do you use or have you used DLIST for any other purpose such as reading open access materials? If yes, describe the last time you used DLIST, if no, describe why not.


60. If your employer of research funder REQUIRED you to deposit copies of your articles in an open archive, what would be your reaction?


Section 10: Value of DLIST

61. Rank the following services of DLIST (most important, important, not so important, not at all important):

    1. Open access archiving (through DLIST)

    2. Self-archiving (through DLIST)

    3. Federated searching (through DL-Harvest)

    4. Copyright research services to authors

    5. Deposit and metadata creation services to authors

    6. RSS feeds

    7. Other (describe)


62. In general, what is the quality of the articles (high quality, mediocre, low, don’t know/no opinion) you have found in DLIST?


63. What effect do you think self-archiving has (or would have) on the impact of your research in the following areas:


64. How often in the last 6 months have you championed self-archiving in DLIST?


65. What are some of your concerns about self-archiving your work in DLIST.


66. Indicate the degree to which you agree (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strong disagree, don’t know/no opinion) or disagree about the benefits of self-archiving in DLIST and select any that apply:


67. Indicate the degree to which you (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strong disagree, don’t know/no opinion) or disagree about perceived disadvantages of self-archiving in DLIST and select any that apply:


68. Are there any additional comments you would like to make?