Investigate the familiarity and use of indexes in the end of the book between academic members of Isfahan city based on Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT)

Introduction: Indexing is a new way of organizing information which due to the spread of information and the ducts need to increase the speed and accuracy of produced information is important. The present study aimed to investigate the familiarity and use of indexes in the end of the book between academic members of Isfahan city based on Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). Methods: This study was conducted through a descriptive survey design. Study population included 1727 academic members of governmental universities in Isfahan. Sample size was calculated based on Cochran formula as 176 subjects. With respect to questionnaire return drop, the questionnaires were sent 300 subjects who returned 191 questionnaires. Questionnaire validity was confirmed by 10 experts in knowledge and informatics science, informatics and communications and sociology. Its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha=97.6. The data were analyzed by descriptive (frequency, percent and mean) and inferential (Spearman correlation Coefficient) statistical tests. Results: The findings showed that familiarity and use of academic members in Isfahan with indexes in the end of the book was lower than average (2.37). Most familiarity was through university and the use of books in Persian and Latin icons in the second priority. Results showed no significant difference between mean score of academic members' use of indexes in searching the information in the books, and sociological variables. There was an inverse association between academic members' use of indexes in writing, translating (kind of print) and age (p-value=0.019, r=-0.308). There was an inverse association between academic members' use of indexes generally and years of teaching (p-value=0.023, r=0-.296) Conclusion: Since the main mission of faculty members is teaching and research activities and performance it need understanding research tools, it seems index is the most important. Small knowledge and limited use of index among academic members of governmental universities in Isfahan may get the opportunity to practice deep. Therefore, the scientific community need professionals in this field and this can interfere with the librarians to compensate. Keywords: Index; Indexing; Information Dissemination; Faculty Members; Universities