Information Needs and Information Seeking Behavior of Agricultural Scientists in Malaysia |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Information Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 70, Lienhai Rd., Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan;2. School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 135 North Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA;1. Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS UMR 7606, LIP6, F-75005, Paris, France;2. Toulouse University UPS IRIT 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France;3. School of Communication & Information (SC&I) Rutgers University 4 Huntington St, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA |
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| Abstract: | Knowledge about the information needs and seeking behavior of scientists could play a vital role in meeting their information needs effectively. Libraries can use this knowledge for re-orienting their collections and facilities to attune them to the needs of the scientific community. This study explores information needs and seeking behavior of Malaysian agricultural scientists. It was found that research scientists spent 16% of their office time on reading and literature searching, whereas academicians spent 9.3% of their time for this purpose. The study also revealed that scientists preferred using primary sources of information, particularly journal and review articles. Informal communication with professional colleagues was also considered important for exchanging current research information. A large number of the participants felt that they had not been keeping in touch with scientific literature due to deficient library collections and services. This article recommends that science and technology libraries should periodically survey the information needs of their users, assess their collections and facilities, and strengthen their promotional activities. |
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