Information-seeking behavior changes in community-based teaching practices.

A National Library of Medicine information access grant allowed for a collaborative project to provide computer resources in fourteen clinical practice sites that enabled health care professionals to access medical information via PubMed and the Internet. Health care professionals were taught how to access quality, cost-effective information that was user friendly and would result in improved patient care. Selected sites were located in medically underserved areas and received a computer, a printer, and, during year one, a fax machine. Participants were provided dial-up Internet service or were connected to the affiliated hospital's network. Clinicians were trained in how to search PubMed as a tool for practicing evidence-based medicine and to support clinical decision making. Health care providers were also taught how to find patient-education materials and continuing education programs and how to network with other professionals. Prior to the training, participants completed a questionnaire to assess their computer skills and familiarity with searching the Internet, MEDLINE, and other health-related databases. Responses indicated favorable changes in information-seeking behavior, including an increased frequency in conducting MEDLINE searches and Internet searches for work-related information.     

Information-seeking behavior of basic science researchers: implications for library services

Objectives:

This study examined the information-seeking behaviors of basic science researchers to inform the development of customized library services.

Methods:

A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted on a sample of basic science researchers employed at a university medical school.

Results:

The basic science researchers used a variety of information resources ranging from popular Internet search engines to highly technical databases. They generally relied on basic keyword searching, using the simplest interface of a database or search engine. They were highly collegial, interacting primarily with coworkers in their laboratories and colleagues employed at other institutions. They made little use of traditional library services and instead performed many traditional library functions internally.

Conclusions:

Although the basic science researchers expressed a positive attitude toward the library, they did not view its resources or services as integral to their work. To maximize their use by researchers, library resources must be accessible via departmental websites. Use of library services may be increased by cultivating relationships with key departmental administrative personnel. Despite their self-sufficiency, subjects expressed a desire for centralized information about ongoing research on campus and shared resources, suggesting a role for the library in creating and managing an institutional repository.

Highlights

• Basic science researchers rely on a small network of individuals in their institution and at other institutions to satisfy their information needs.
• Basic science researchers tend to ignore institutional boundaries when searching for information and do not necessarily view the library as the primary source of scholarly information.
• Basic science researchers use the interlibrary loan service regularly but otherwise rarely use traditional library services such as mediated literature searching and instruction.

Implications

• The library must establish a presence in researchers'' work environments, rather than expect them to seek out library resources and services.
• The increased emphasis by funding agencies on clinical translational science may impact the information needs of basic science researchers in the future.
• Libraries have an opportunity to capitalize on their positive reputation and basic scientists'' desire for more centralized information to create new information resources and services such as institutional repositories.

     

Information-seeking behavior and use of social science faculty studying stateless nations: a case study

The information-seeking behavior of social science faculty studying the Kurds was assessed using a questionnaire, citation analysis, and follow-up inquiry. Two specific questions were addressed: how these faculty locate relevant government information and what factors influence their seeking behavior and use of such information. Results show that besides using traditional methods for locating relevant government information, social science faculty studying the Kurds use the World Wide Web (Web) and electronic mail (e-mail) for that purpose, suggesting that these faculty are aware of, and utilize, new information technology to support their research. Results also show that the information-seeking behavior of social science faculty studying the Kurds is influenced by factors similar to those influencing other social science faculty. Moreover, results also show that accessing the needed materials is a major information-seeking activity that should be added to David Ellis' behavioral model, and that faculty examined here employ somewhat a more elaborate “differentiating” information-seeking activity than the one described in the model. Some elements of interdisciplinarity of Kurdish studies as a field of research have been discovered, however, further research is required to verify that. Implications for library services and suggestions for future research are presented.     

Information-seeking behavior of nursing students and clinical nurses: implications for health sciences librarians.

OBJECTIVES: This research was conducted to provide new insights on clinical nurses' and nursing students' current use of health resources and libraries and deterrents to their retrieval of electronic clinical information, exploring implications from these findings for health sciences librarians. METHODS: Questionnaires, interviews, and observations were used to collect data from twenty-five nursing students and twenty-five clinical nurses. RESULTS: Nursing students and clinical nurses were most likely to rely on colleagues and books for medical information, while other resources they frequently cited included personal digital assistants, electronic journals and books, and drug representatives. Significantly more nursing students than clinical nurses used online databases, including CINAHL and PubMed, to locate health information, and nursing students were more likely than clinical nurses to report performing a database search at least one to five times a week. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Nursing students made more use of all available resources and were better trained than clinical nurses, but both groups lacked database-searching skills. Participants were eager for more patient care information, more database training, and better computer skills; therefore, health sciences librarians have the opportunity to meet the nurses' information needs and improve nurses' clinical information-seeking behavior.     

Information-seeking behavior and the use of online resources: a snapshot of current health sciences faculty

Objective:

The research assesses the information-seeking behaviors of health sciences faculty, including their use of online databases, journals, and social media.

Methodology:

A survey was designed and distributed via email to 754 health sciences faculty at a large urban research university with 6 health sciences colleges.

Results:

Twenty-six percent (198) of faculty responded. MEDLINE was the primary database utilized, with 78.5% respondents indicating they use the database at least once a week. Compared to MEDLINE, Google was utilized more often on a daily basis. Other databases showed much lower usage.

Conclusions:

Low use of online databases other than MEDLINE, link-out tools to online journals, and online social media and collaboration tools demonstrates a need for meaningful promotion of online resources and informatics literacy instruction for faculty.

Implications:

Library resources are plentiful and perhaps somewhat overwhelming. Librarians need to help faculty discover and utilize the resources and tools that libraries have to offer.     

Insights into Information-seeking and Communicating Behaviour of Academics

This paper discusses the information-seeking behaviour of academics in relation to the productivity of academics in South African Universities, with particular reference to the University of Zululand, through a survey of 105 academics. It was established that the nature of the discipline and the rank of the academic, which normally corresponds with the academic qualification, experience, exposure and research productivity level, largely determine the information-seeking behaviour. Academics mainly need information for career development, and occupational and professional needs. Furthermore, university libraries, which currently face budget cuts on acquisitions, still play a pivotal role in information access by the academics. It is confirmed that the use of “local environment” is dominant for intra- and inter-university information access network and system. It is recommended that avenues that work colleagues can use to interact should be supported, and career challenges that stimulate productivity by academics, such as research and publication, should be maintained and sustained.     

Insights into Information-seeking and Communicating Behaviour of Academics

This paper discusses the information-seeking behaviour of academics in relation to the productivity of academics in South African Universities, with particular reference to the University of Zululand, through a survey of 105 academics. It was established that the nature of the discipline and the rank of the academic, which normally corresponds with the academic qualification, experience, exposure and research productivity level, largely determine the information-seeking behaviour. Academics mainly need information for career development, and occupational and professional needs. Furthermore, university libraries, which currently face budget cuts on acquisitions, still play a pivotal role in information access by the academics. It is confirmed that the use of “local environment” is dominant for intra- and inter-university information access network and system. It is recommended that avenues that work colleagues can use to interact should be supported, and career challenges that stimulate productivity by academics, such as research and publication, should be maintained and sustained.     

Developing K-ONCOCIN: a case study in the cognitive process of knowledge engineers

The domain of knowledge engineering reflects a strong emphasis on the acquisition and modelling of knowledge structures and the processes used to manipulate and transform them. Knowledge engineering activity has been largely focused on the epistemological and representational aspects of knowledge. A different, yet complementary view would identify knowledge engineering as the interaction of cogniting agents with the emphasis on the cognitive processes used in knowledge engineering. This paper presents the results of an intensive discussion between the author and Marc Linster who acted as the interviewee. The topic of discussion focused on his activity with Mark Musen during the modelling stages of knowledge engineering activity in the development of K-ONCOCIN which is a KADS conceptual model of a part of the ONCOCIN system. For each state of this ‘bottom-up’ modelling, the tasks were identified, the available knowledge and information resources identified, the classes of cognitive processes inferred and the outcome structures described.     

网络用户信息查寻行为模型构建

首先通过文献调查,分析网络用户信息查寻行为的特点.其次,对国外已有7个典型信息行为模型进行回顾,并从研究关注点、研究视角、研究方法等方面对这几个模型进行比较.再次,结合使用观察法和访谈法,对50名网络用户进行了调查研究,得出一些重要结论.最后,构建网络用户信息查寻行为过程的描述性模型,梳理网络用户信息查寻行为的一般步骤.     

网络用户信息查寻行为模型构建

首先通过文献调查,分析网络用户信息查寻行为的特点。其次,对国外已有7个典型信息行为模型进行回顾,并从研究关注点、研究视角、研究方法等方面对这几个模型进行比较。再次,结合使用观察法和访谈法,对50名网络用户进行了调查研究,得出一些重要结论。最后,构建网络用户信息查寻行为过程的描述性模型,梳理网络用户信息查寻行为的一般步骤。     

国内艺术院校本科生信息查寻行为研究

以国内艺术院校本科生为研究对象,采用问卷调查法和访谈法,分析了艺术院校本科生的信息查寻目的、主要信息源和信息查寻方式特征,分析了国内外艺术院校本科生信息查寻行为特征的异同,并就艺术院校图书馆的资源建设和读者服务提出了针对性建议。     

高校研究人员学术信息资源利用及信息查寻行为的调查与分析——以北京大学图书馆用户调查为例

通过对北京大学教师和研究生利用北大中心馆、院系分馆及校外其他图书馆构成的文献保障体系以及用户信息查寻行为的调查和研究,分析了不同身份和不同学科用户在广义的信息环境下的信息需求与利用的情况,提出了针对用户的需求,加强馆藏资源建设、提供更具有针对性的用户服务的建议。     

Imposed-inquiry Information-seeking Self-efficacy and Performance of College Students: A Review of the Literature

Information literacy is a constellation of skills related to information use, one of which is information seeking. Proficiency in information seeking alone is not sufficient, though, because having the procedural knowledge necessary to complete a task is irrelevant without the confidence to act on that knowledge. Despite its importance, researchers have only begun investigating information-seeking self-efficacy in the last few decades, and multiple studies have demonstrated the importance of information literacy instruction in developing self-efficacy. How and why self-efficacy changes are key questions in this line of research, and both require a reliable and valid method of measuring self-efficacy, as well as an objective, quantitative measure of performance. Multiple researchers have addressed this issue in their research, often in relationship with another topic, including the efficacy of different pedagogical approaches, the relationship between self-efficacy and performance, human-computer interaction with search systems, and the interrelationships between self-efficacy and multiple other variables. Although progress has been made, a great deal of research is required to properly understand the relationship between self-efficacy and performance, and the complex interrelationships with other factors, which would allow for the development of better information literacy instruction.     

高校图书馆虚拟参考咨询服务对学生信息查询行为的指导策略

高校图书馆虚拟参考咨询服务是支持学生学习的一个重要途径,文章基于教育学原理总结出一些参考咨询员可以用来提升学生信息查询行为的指导策略,在提供咨询服务的同时,激发学生的学习积极性和实践能力,从而提升其信息查询能力。     

网络用户信息查寻行为研究述评

从3个方面对国内外网络用户信息查询行为研究领域的主要进展和热点问题进行评介，包括：①网络用户信息查寻行为的相关概念；②主要研究内容，包括用户利用搜索引擎的信息查寻行为研究、特定用户群体信息查询行为研究、用户个体差异对网络信息查寻行为的影响、网络用户信息查寻行为模型的构建；③研究方法，包括查询日志分析法、问卷法、访谈法、观察法、出声思维法。     

师生团队模式下科研人员信息查询行为特征和差异研究

采用自行研制的科研人员信息查询行为量表,对所在学校52个师生团队350名科研人员的信息查询行为进行调查,分别从性别、师生团队规模、团队模式、学科4个方面比较分析不同师生团队模式下科研人员的信息查询行为特征和差异。最后针对如何提高师生团队科研人员的信息查询行为水平提出相应的对策与建议。     

Speech as process: Effects of experimental design

The traditional design for the study of language variables is a controlled message design in which one kernel message is manipulated to produce message variations that represent the language variable contrasts. Thus message content is the same across treatment conditions and hence crossed with the treatment factors. Jackson and Jacobs (1983) criticized this design on three grounds. They argued that messages should be natural rather than contrived, that messages should be nested within treatment conditions rather than crossed with treatment factors, and that each study should use as many messages as possible. Their paper has been used by reviewers as the basis for rejecting studies done using the traditional design. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the arguments presented in Jackson and Jacobs (1983) as well as subsequent papers by Jackson (1984) and Jackson and Jacobs (1987). The arguments are shown to contain both methodological and substantive errors. When the arguments are corrected, it is shown that nested designs and multiple messages should be used only when absolutely necessary. It is the traditional controlled message, crossed design and not the naturalistic message, nested design which is robust; robust against not only incidental but fundamental confounding, robust against message by treatment by message interactions, and relatively robust against Type II error. Taken together with meta‐analysis, the traditional single message, crossed design can detect and identify message by treatment interactions. On the other hand, the multiple message design makes it impossible to identify such interactions.     

基于数字化产品定义制造数据的档案质量控制

本文依据数字化产品定义(DPD)产品制造流程,从DPD数据管理流程、数据安全及状态控制、衍生数据的形成、数据的归档和管理等方面对DPD数据的档案质量控制措施进行了探讨。     

Information-seeking behaviour and use of the Internet by French general practitioners: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies deal with the use of computers and the Internet in the health sector. Most of these studies show an increase in the use of the new technologies in searching for medical information-particularly by patients--but these uses remain very heterogeneous and depend on the studies. AIMS: The aim of this work was to consider the use of computers by French general practitioners (GPs) and to analyse the impact that computerization could have on their information-seeking behaviour. METHODS: The nature of the approach used is qualitative using interviews. RESULTS: Most of the GPs interviewed are equipped with a computer. The policies of the government were supposed to give financial incentives for GPs to start using computers for the management of administrative procedures, but many physicians do not know how to use the new tools properly. Their computers are, in most cases, underused for searching for medical information. Most of the time, the Internet sources are thought to be unreliable. CONCLUSION: This study sheds light on the use of computers and the preferences of GPs in searching for medical information.