Analysis of the behaviour of the users of a package of electronic journals in the field of chemistry

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to analyse the behaviour of the users of a package of electronic journals using the data of consumption per IP address. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses the data of consumption at the University of Barcelona of 31 electronic journals of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2003. Data of sessions, articles downloaded and abstracts viewed were analysed. Findings – Most of the consumption was concentrated at a few IP addresses, and most of the users made little use of the information available. There was found to be a greater dispersion of the consumption of electronic information than of information on paper. Finally, it was determined that the number of abstracts viewed is a good predictor of the number of regular users of a journal. Originality/value – The paper offers new data on behaviour in the consumption of electronic information and presents a method for determining the number of regular users of a journal from the number of articles viewed.