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E-journals Change User Behavior in Japan
Shinichi Abe, Reference Librarian (pictured standing,
left) at an information literacy class. Classes such as
these, given by librarians, are part of the curriculum
at the Jikei University.
The Library Services Division of the Medical Information Center, here at the Jikei University School of Medicine in central Tokyo, is an average Japanese academic medical library with a collection of about 200,000 medical books and bound journals. It employs twelve medical librarians and a small support staff.
Our library has certainly been influenced by new information technologies that have significantly changed the behavior of our library users, particularly e-journals. Now that physicians and researchers can read journals online at their offices and laboratories, they are no longer frequent visitors to the library. The Jikei University is adjacent to one hospital in the center of Tokyo and affiliated to three branch hospitals further afield. Each branch has a small, unstaffed library with a limited collection, so here in the Medical Information Center Library we have traditionally received many requests for copies of journal articles from physicians at our branch hospitals - we made photocopies of about 7,000 articles in 2003.
In recent years we have seen the information behavior and needs of physicians and researchers change as the number of e-journals on our campus network increases. We now have electronic access to over 1,200 titles, and managing the accessibility of these e-journals has become a more important library service than the distribution of photocopies.
We have also been greatly influenced by e-mail. The Jikei University was founded more than 120 years ago and has many graduates all over Japan with indirect access to various library services, including information retrieval and document delivery. E-mail requests and responses for these services have greatly increased and more than 100 graduates have registered for our SDI service - a periodical database search and email alert.
To keep up with the latest advances, Japanese medical librarians read journals such as the Journal of the Medical Library Association and Igaku-Toshokan; exchange information through listservs like medlib-l and medlib-j; and, whenever possible, attend conferences at home and overseas.
These days, with fewer opportunities for face-to-face contact with our users, we are less able to determine their needs. Librarians therefore, must make greater efforts to understand these information needs and provide more useful information. For the past few years, Japanese medical librarians have studied the information and information service needs of our users. Based on the data we have collected, we will strive to provide more effective information services. 
