Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources: A Report to the OCLC Membership

Abstract

"Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources" (2005) summarizes findings of an international study on information-seeking habits and preferences. With extensive input from hundreds of librarians and OCLC staff, the OCLC Market Research team developed a project and commissioned Harris Interactive Inc. to survey a representative sample of information consumers. In June of 2005, we collected over 3,300 responses from information consumers in Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Perceptions report provides the findings and responses from the online survey in an effort to learn more about: (1) Library use; (2) Awareness and use of library electronic resources; (3) The Internet search engine, the library and the librarian; (4) Free vs. for-fee information; and (5) The "Library" brand. The findings indicate that information consumers view libraries as places to borrow print books, but they are unaware of the rich electronic content they can access through libraries. Even though information consumers make limited use of these resources, they continue to trust libraries as reliable sources of information. Appended are: (1) Supporting Data Tables; and (2) Sample Verbatim Comments.