But from the author's point of view, another important benefit is getting their article to a wider, and perhaps different, audience. They have experience with multimedia in terms of their research and teaching, but no particular interest in including multimedia content in their journal articles. Electronic Journal Users Users are conservative, and currently tend to use electronic journals in the same way they use print. They view electronic and print versions of journals as complementary, and would like both for the foreseeable future. Printed journals are easy to browse and read, and can be stored as a permanent archive.
Electronic journals enable quick and easy access, and are always available.
Users perform different tasks at different times, and their usage reflects this variety. But in doing so, it's important to develop a multi-dimensional picture of the user, and to bear in mind that if any one of the individual variables changes, this will have an impact on use. In deciding to use an electronic journal service, users take into consideration a variety of factors, the primary factors being relevance and access. Only when these factors are in place will they assess secondary factors, such as the value-added features on offer. The differences between Scientists and Social Scientists are reflected in their use of journals.