Study of the Patterns of Use of e-Resources in Aerospace Engineering by the Indian Aerospace Scientists and Engineers of Selected Aerospace Organizations in Bangalore: Part – I – Use of e-Journals

Aerospace engineers and scientists greatly depend upon the network and Internet technologies for accessing electronic information resources in the form of e-journals related to aerospace engineering right at their desktops. A survey study was undertaken amongst 16 prestigious aerospace organizations in Bangalore, which is the sampling boundary. Out of the 650 questionnaires distributed, a total number of 612 were received back and finally 583 selected which were found suitable for the study. The analysis is based on the responses for the questionnaire received from the aerospace scientists and engineers belonging to the selected aerospace organizations. The responses from the participants towards the frequency of use of aerospace engineering e-journals were graded on a scale of 4 to 0, a score of 4 indicating „Daily‟ access. The major findings in this paper are: (a) The summary of total mean scores obtained with regard to usage of aerospace engineering e-journals represents the following pattern: The highest mean score of 1.25(CV=110.44) is obtained for the journal „Aerospace Science and Technology‟. This is followed by a mean score of 1.20(CV=111.16) which is represented for „Progress in Aerospace Sciences‟. The third highest mean score of 1.12(CCV=114.14) is reflected for „Journal of Aerospace Engineering‟. This is followed by a mean score of 1.08(CV=121.57) which is represented for „IEEE Transactions on Electronics and Aerospace Systems‟. „Web of Science‟ follows up with the next highest mean score of 1.01(CV=132.41). „Online Journals: Aerospace‟ gets the next highest mean score of 0.95(CV=129.23). This is followed by the „Journal of Turbo and Jet Engines‟ which gets the next highest mean score of 0.90(CV=137.69). „The Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention (ASM International)‟ comes up with the next highest mean score of 0.78(CV=151.37). This is followed by a mean score of 0.73(CV=150.54) which is represented by „European Space Bulletin – ESA‟. „Informatics –Gate‟ represents itself with a mean score of 0.72(CV=160.02). Finally, the lowest mean score of 0.67(CV=166.17) is reflected for „International Journal of Satellite Communications and Networking‟, (b) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied for testing the significant difference among the 16 mean scores attained from the scientists and engineers of the aerospace organizations for „Frequency of Access and Usage of Aerospace Engineering e-Journals‟. It is observed that all the 16 aerospace organizations show a significant difference (P < 0.05) in their mean scores viz., „Web of Science‟, „Informatics JGate‟, European Space Bulletin – ESA‟, „International Journal of Satellite Communications and Networking‟, „International Journal of Turbo and Jet Engines‟, „Journal of Aerospace Engineering – ASCE‟, „Progress in Aerospace Sciences‟, Aerospace Science and Technology‟, „IEEE transactions on Electronic and Aerospace Systems‟, „Online Journals: Aerospace‟ and „Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention – ASM International

Use Patterns of Aerospace Monographs: A Research Survey of Aerospace Scientists and Engineers of Bangalore

A large number of Aerospace Monographs are frequently referred by the aerospace scientists and engineers of Bangalore for their day to day research work. A research survey was undertaken to ascertain the ‘Use Patterns’ of these Aerospace Monographs amongst these aerospace scientists and engineers of the selected 16 aerospace organizations of Bangalore. The study is restricted to the geographic boundary of the city of Bangalore. Out of the 650 survey questionnaires distributed to the scientists and engineers, a total number of 612 were received back and finally 583 responses found suitable for the study. The total percentage of responses usable from all the 16 aerospace organizations amounted to 89.7 percent. The analysis is based on the responses received from the aerospace scientists and engineers representing these selected aerospace organizations. The responses from the participants towards the use of Aerospace Monographs were graded on a scale of 4 to 0, 4 representing ‘Daily’ and ‘0’ representing ‘Never’. The major findings that the authors would like to report in this paper are: (a) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied for testing the significant difference among the mean scores attained from 16 aerospace organizations towards the Use Patterns of ’Aerospace Monographs’ It is observed that all the 16 aerospace organizations show a significant difference (P < 0.05) in their mean scores viz ‘‘Monographs in Aerospace History and Series (http://klabs.org/history/monographs/monographs.htm)’, ‘LS Monographs: Aeronautics, Aeroacoustics’, ‘NASA History Series Publications (http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html)’, , ‘RAND: Monograph/Reports | Aerospace (http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1187/’, ‘US Government Bookstore: Monographs in Aerospace History (http://bookstore.gpo.gov/subjects/sb-222.jsp)’, The Aerospace Press / Corporation:(http://www.aero.org/education/tai/index.html) ’, ‘Aerospace Projects Review: (http://www.up-ship.com/apr/apr.htm)’, ‘Enchanted Rendezvous (history.nasa.gov/monograph4/foreword.htm)’, except for ‘American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) – The Aerospace (http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=174), (P=0.078)’, ‘NASA Dryden History Monographs Aerospace(http://cgi.ebay.com/Nasa-Dryden-History-Monographs-Aerospace), (P=0.055)’, ‘NASA’s Origin and the Dawn of the Space Age (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/NASA's_Origins_and_the_Dawn_of_the_Space_Age)’ and ‘Any other’

Use Patterns of Core Aerospace Engineering E-databases, Gateways and Standards: A Research Survey of Aerospace Scientists and Engineers of Bangalore

A large number of core Aerospace Engineering e-Databases, Gateways and Standards are frequently referred by the aerospace scientists and engineers of Bangalore for their day to day research work, for keeping updated in their subject, for gathering information, for writing technical proposals and reports, for increasing scholarly productivity and finally to be current with global R&D. A research survey was undertaken to ascertain the ‘Use Patterns’ of these databases, gateways and standards amongst these aerospace scientists and engineers of the selected 16 aerospace organizations of Bangalore. The study is restricted to the geographic boundary of the city of Bangalore. Out of the 650 survey questionnaires distributed to the scientists and engineers, a total number of 612 were received back and finally 583 responses found suitable for the study. The total percentage of responses usable from all the 16 aerospace organizations amounted to 89.7 percent. The analysis is based on the responses received from the aerospace scientists and engineers representing these selected aerospace organizations. The responses from the participants towards the use of core aerospace engineering databases, gateways and standards were graded on a scale of 4 to 0, 4 representing ‘Daily’ and ‘0’ representing ‘Never’. The major findings that the authors would like to report in this paper are: (a) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied for testing the significant difference among the mean scores attained from 16 aerospace organizations towards the Use Patterns of ’Aerospace Engineering e-Databases’, ‘Gateways’ and ‘Standards’. It isobserved that all the 16 aerospace organizations show a significant difference (P < 0.05) in their mean scores viz., ‘Aerospace Databases’, ‘AIAA Meeting Papers’, ‘’IEEE Explore’, ‘NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)’, ‘NTIS (CSA)’, ‘Thomas Register’ and ‘AIAA’ except for ‘Aerospace and High Technology Database through Cambridge Science Abstracts (CSA)’, ‘Inside Science’, ‘SAE International(P=0.089)’, ‘Compendex’, ‘INSPEC’, ‘Aerospace Defence Industry Data Finder’ and ‘Aerospace Industries Association’ [Core Aerospace Engineering e-Databases]; ‘AERADE’, ‘GALCIT’, ‘IAIN’, ‘FAA’, ‘NASA’, ‘Space Today Online’ and ‘Yahoo Index for Aeronautics and Space Administration’ except for ‘ERAU’ [Aerospace Gateways]; ‘AIA NAS SET’, ‘NAS 1352’, ‘NAS 1637’, ‘NAS 410’, ‘NASM20470’, ‘NASM21209’, ‘NASM33537’, ’14 CFR 1-59’, ‘AGMA 911’, ‘API/IP SPEC 1581’, ‘AP/IP SPEC 1583’, ‘API/IP STD 1529’, ‘API/IP STD 1542’,‘ARINC 429 P1’ ‘ARINC 600’, ‘ASTM D 1655’, ‘ASTM D 471’, ‘ASTM E 1742’, ‘ASTM E 399’, ‘AWS D17.1’, ‘BS EN 2282’, ‘BS EN 2424’, ‘DATCOM’ ‘JAA & GM Complete Set’, ‘JAA Complete Set’, ‘MIL-STD-704’, ‘NEMA WC 27500’, ‘RTCA DO178’, RTCA DO254’, ‘SAE AMS 2175’, ‘SAE AMS 2644’, ‘SAE AMS-H-6875’, ‘SAE AMS QQ-P-416’, ‘SAE AS 478’, ‘SAE AE 9100’, ‘SAE AS 9102’, ‘DO178-B’, ‘DO-254’, ‘DO-160D’, ‘ARINC 400 Series’, ‘ARINC 500 Series’, ‘ARINC 600 Series’, ‘ARINC 700 Series’, ‘ARINC 800 Series’ and ‘ARINC 900 Series’, except for ‘AGMA 925(P = 0.071)’ [Aerospace Standards]

Scholarly Electronic Communication Amongst the Aerospace Engineering Community and the Impact of Electronic Journals: A Review Study"

This review paper highlights the very special „niche segment‟ to which the aerospace scientists and engineers belonging to different countries right across the globe occupy. Highlighting aviation as one of the most significant technological marvels of our times, the paper discusses in detail the various significant aspects related to what aerospace engineering is all about and how the electronic media has come in a big way to support scholarly communication within this „niche‟ aerospace engineering community. The paper also reviews the impact of Internet, the availability of high-speed networks which has enabled these scientists and engineers have access to electronic journals right at their desktops and also keep track of the global R&D happenings in their respective field of specialization. Various studies conducted (as indicated in this paper) illustrate how „electronic journals‟ are highly important to the aerospace scientists and engineers. Important studies in this connection have also proved that scientists are willing to pay a high price in their time to spend many hours reading electronic scientific literature. Many relevant studies also have revealed that the information that a scientist or engineer gets from refereed journals has greatly resulted in their improved performance. The review paper also touches upon key aspects like: (a) Distinguishing engineers from scientists, (b) Their differences in knowledge diffusion, (c) Their communication behaviours, (d) Their information seeking behaviour, (e) The aerospace engineering community in particular and the (g) the importance of scientific communication for advances in aerospace engineering and the need for electronic information resources. KEYWORDS/DESCRIPTORS: Information Processing in Science and Technology, Communication Behaviour of Scientists and Engineers, Engineers Information Seeking Behaviour, Scholarly Electronic Communication, The Aerospace Engineering Community, Impact of Electronic Journal

Scholarly Electronic Communication amongst the Aerospace Engineering Community and the Impact of Electronic Journals: A Review Study

This review paper highlights the very special „niche segment‟ to which the aerospace scientists and engineers belonging to different countries right across the globe occupy. Highlighting Aviation as one of the most significant technological marvels of our times, the paper discusses in detail the various significant aspects related to what aerospace engineering is all about and how the electronic media has come in a big way to support scholarly communication within this „niche‟ aerospace engineering community. The paper also reviews the impact of Internet, the availability of high-speed networks which has enabled these scientists and engineers have access to electronic journals right at their desktops and also keep track of the global R&D happenings in their respective field of specialization. Various studies conducted (as indicated in this paper) illustrate how „electronic journals‟ are highly important to the aerospace scientists and engineers. Important studies in this connection have also proved that scientists are willing to pay a high price in their time to spend many hours reading electronic scientific literature. Many relevant studies also have revealed that the information that a scientist or engineer gets from refereed journals has greatly resulted in their improved performance. The review paper also touches upon key aspects like (a) Distinguishing Engineers from Scientists, (b) Their differences in knowledge diffusion, (c) Their Communication Behaviours, (d) Their Information Seeking Behaviour, (e) The Aerospace Engineering Community in particular and the (g) the Importance of Scientific Communication for advances in Aerospace Engineering and the need for Electronic Information Resources. KEY WORDS / DESCRIPTOR

WEB LOG ANALYSIS OF E-JOURNAL USAGE AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF E-JOURNAL (FULL-TEXT) DOWNLOAD PATTERNS OF NAL SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

At present most scientists have access to full-text e-journals. In most cases, this facility is provided right at the desktop. In this paper, we present a case study of full-text e-journal use patterns among the scientists and engineers at the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a constituent of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The facility at NAL is provided right at the desktop through the NAL-CSIR-NISCAIR e-conglomerate. National Institute of Science Communication and Information Research (NISCAIR) provides e-access to more than 4040 world-class e-journals to all science and technology personnel of the CSIR fraternity. This CSIR-NISCAIR initiative allows any scientist in any CSIR Laboratory to access this electronic information to keep abreast of the technological developments in his / her area of specialization. The analysis of data of the full-text e-journal use patterns covers the period 2005 to 2007. The major findings highlighted are: (a) the mean number (per-month) of full-text downloads for the above three years was found to be different through Kruskal Wallis test of ‗One Way Analysis of Variance‘ at 1% level of significance and (b) when the Chi-Square test was applied to test whether there is independence between the years and the publishers, the calculated value of Chi-Square was 845, which is highly significant. Hence we conclude that for the full-text downloads data, the years and the publishers are not independent. This Chi-Square test was carried out for only those publishers (8 in number) for which the data was available for all the three years (2005-2007)

Recent Trends in Electronic Information Resources Usage: Among Scientists, Engineers and Technologists - A Comprehensive Literature Review

With the exponential growth of telecommunication and network technologies, today’s Scientists, Engineers and Technologists largely depend upon ‘Electronic Information Resources’(EIS) in their day to day scientific work. The coming of EIS has led to a significant transformation by which scholarly information is disseminated across the globe. This has greatly affected the way a scientist or an engineer seeks this information, acquires it and uses it effectively. ‘User Studies’ took off as early as 1940 in the area of Library and Information Science and is still one of the most researched areas. The success of any information system lies in understanding its user as he happens to be an integral part of it. ‘User Studies’ assumes all the more importance amongst these Scientists, Engineers and Technologists in this information explosion age. This radical shift in scholarly research has dramatically changed the role of the librarian in this modern electronic era to cater to the information seeking behaviour and needs of the user. This comprehensive literature revw.highlights the recent trends in EIS usage amongst this ‘niche’ community with some specific studies on aerospace engineer

Patterns of Use of Aerospace Engineering e-Technical Reports by the Indian Aerospace Scientists and Engineers in Bangalore: A Research Study

A large number of aerospace e-technical reports are frequently referred by the aerospace scientists and engineers for their day to day research work. A survey study was undertaken to ascertain the most frequently used aerospace e-technical reports amongst 16 selected aerospace organizations of Bangalore. The study is restricted to geographic boundary of the city of Bangalore. Out of the 650 survey questionnaires distributed to the scientists and engineers, a total number of 612 were received back and finally 583 responses found suitable were selected for the study. The total percentage of responses usable from all the 16 aerospace organizations amounted to 89.7 percent. The analysis is based purely on the responses received from the aerospace scientists and engineers representing these selected aerospace organizations. The responses from the participants towards the extent of use of the e-technical reports were graded on a scale of 4 to 0, 4 representing ‘to a great extent.’ The major findings that the authors would like to report in this paper are: The most frequently referred aerospace engineering e-technical reports by these scientists and engineers are: (a) ‘USA, NASA’, followed by, (b) ‘USA, AIAA’, (c) ‘Indian NAL’, (d) ‘AGARD’, (e) ‘British ARC and RAE’, (f) ‘ESA’, (g) ‘French ONERA’, (h) ‘German DFVLR, DLR and MBB’, (i) ‘Dutch NLR’, (j) ‘Russian TaAGI’, and, finally, (k) ‘Japanese NAL’. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied for testing the significant difference among the mean scores attained from 16 aerospace organizations towards the ’Use of e-Technical Reports’. It is observed that all the 16 aerospace organizations show a significant difference (P < 0.05) in their mean scores viz., ‘AGARD’, ‘British ARC and RAE’ ‘ESA’, ‘Indian NAL’, ‘German DFVLR, DLR and MBB, ‘Japanese NAL’, ‘Russian TaAGI’, ‘Dutch NLR’, ‘USA, NASA’ and ‘USA, AIAA’, except for ‘French ONERA’ (P = 0.092)

USE PATTERNS OF ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCES: BY AEROSPACE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN BANGALORE, INDIA

This book attempts to study conventional and electronic information resources used by the Indian aerospace scientists and engineers of aerospace organizations of Bangalore. Aerospace is key technology today owing to its huge growth in Asia in general and India in particular. Indian scientists and engineers currently working on strategically important projects depend heavily on rapid collection of information from various e-information resources. Seeking information through e-resources is an upcoming and endearing activity. This book analyzes in detail use patterns with specific reference to various aerospace engineering e-journals and core e-databases frequently used by Indian aerospace scientists and engineers in their R&D activities. Use pattern of electronic information resources is same for scientists and engineers irrespective of their disciplines. But, aerospace scientists and engineers have an advantage as they are well exposed to the e-Environment and IT due to nature of their work itself. The use of Electronic Information Resources is highly expected from them particularly as an Integrated Information System to their learning and working environment