Some impacts of electronic mail on information services

Abstract

Electronic mail is briefly reviewed and its impact on infor mation services is discussed. Initially a telephone survey sought to locate information services using electronic mail (e-mail). A postal questionnaire to those information services set out to discover how they are using e-mail, the extent of their use, and their attitudes towards e-mail. The results indicated that rela tively few information services are using the system and its main application is for brief admimstrative messages. Some use it in more innovative ways for the dissemination of informa tion, and also for the receipt of requests from users. In most cases there was little substitution of e-mail for letters, memos, telephone calls, meetings or travel. However, where extensive use was made of e-mail, communication became faster and more efficient, and it was considered to have had a beneficial effect on the functioning of the information service.