User acceptance of electronic journals: Interviews with chemists at Cornell University

Full-text electronic journals must be designed effectively if they are to support and promote scholarly activities. This paper presents interview data from chemists who have used an experimental electronic journal system. The first section explores the potential of electronic journals for accomplishing traditional scholarly tasks; the second focuses on the characteristics of an ideal electronic system and its effects on user productivity. Implications for system design are presented. Improvements must be made in the areas of portability, comfort, convenient access, permanence, and serendipity if electronic journals are to gain wide acceptance.