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P.B. Boyce (PBoyce Associates), C. Tenopir (UTK), R.W. Milkey (AAS)
Starting in 1995 the major journals in astronomy have become available on the Web. In addition, the searchable database of astronomical literature within the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) has become more nearly complete. The back issues of the major astronomical journals are also available on the ADS site. The literature is now well linked to the information in the astronomical data centers. In a related development, the electronic preprint servers are apparently playing a larger role in the dissemination of astronomical information.
In order to assess the impact of the ready availability of information over the Internet we have surveyed the astronomical community to develop information about the use of electronic information resources. We will present the preliminary results of our survey on the use of the electronic journals, the Astrophysics Data System, and the astro-ph preprint server.
We have teamed with Carol Tenopir and Don King who have made similar studies of the impact of the electronic availability of information on other fields. This study was supprted by a grant from NASA to the AAS.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: pboyce@aas.org