Effects of online bibliographic searching on scientists' information style

Bayer, Alan E.; Jahoda, Gerald

doi:10.1108/eb024068

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Bernal [1] did his pilot study on the use of scientific literature in Great Britain in 1948, there have been hundreds of studies which have investigated the information needs of users as well as the methods by which researchers obtain the information they need to conduct their research. Earlier studies that focused on the information needs and library use of scientists [2,3] social scientists [4][5][6][7] and humanists [8][9][10][11][12] contributed to the recent development of a discipline in information science that investigates the information seeking behavior of users.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The application of cost—benefit and least effort theories in studies of information seeking behavior of humanities scholars: the case of Jewish studies scholars in Israel

Bronstein

Baruchson‐Arbib

2007

Journal of Information Science

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The study investigated the process of information channel selection of Jewish studies scholars in Israel according to two theoretical frameworks, the 'cost—benefit ratio' that focused on the quality of the information provided by the channel and the 'least effort principle' that focused on the accessibility of the channel. The study sought to identify which of the two parameters, quality of information or accessibility of the channel, was the decisive one when selecting an information channel. In order to further understand the underlying principle behind scholars' choice of information channels participants were asked about the obstacles they face when searching for information. Four obstacles were stipulated in the structured questionnaire: (1) cost; (2) distance, when the item can only be found at a distant location; (3) unfriendly interface; and (4) time that it takes to get hold of a copy of the desired item. Findings showed that, in general, participants' information channel use was not affected by the obstacles encountered in the information seeking process and that the quality of the information was the decisive factor in choosing an information channel.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The application of cost—benefit and least effort theories in studies of information seeking behavior of humanities scholars: the case of Jewish studies scholars in Israel

Bronstein

Baruchson‐Arbib

2007

Journal of Information Science

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“…Talking about approximately the same period (from the mid-1970s until the end of the decade), but from the angle of the scientist researcher's adoption and utilisation of online bibliographic searching technology, Bayer and Jahoda (1981) terised access to information is becoming more widespread, with an increase of 75% in the number of databases, a tripling of the number of records, and a quadrupling of the number of online searches. However, having found in their empirical study of the e¡ects of online bibliographic searching on scientists' information style, conducted over a year's time, that online searching did not generally diminish the amount of use of other traditional manual means of information gathering activities, they voice the then prevalent view that online searching was not meant to be substituted for the old manual approach, but merely to be added onto previous methods.…”

Section: Integration Of Technological Innovations Into the Information Seeking Work Of The Researchert He Groundbreaking Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

End‐users in academia: meeting the information needs of university researchers in an electronic age

Herman

2001

Aslib Proceedings

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This paper is the second part of a two‐part paper, which examines the transition to the electronic information era in academia. Seeks to establish from the published literature to what extent university researchers have accepted, and adapted to, the changes wrought in information activity by seemingly endless technological developments. Within the wider context of the impact of the changing information environment on each of the three clearly discernible components of academic research (the creation of knowledge and standards, the preservation of information, and the communication of knowledge and information to others), disciplinary‐rooted differences in the conduct of research and their influence on information needs are identified, and the resulting inter‐ and intra‐individual variations in researchers’ information seeking behaviour are explored. Reviewing a large number of studies investigating the integration of electronic media into academic work, an attempt is made to paint the picture of academics’ progressively harnessing the new technologies to scholarly information gathering endeavours, with the expressed hope of affording some insight into the directions and basic trends characterising the information activity of university faculty in an increasingly electronic environment.

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“…Much of the past research into the information behavior of life scientists and scientists in general has focused on the use of traditional, bibliographic resources (Bayer & Jahoda, 1981; Curtis, Weller, & Hurd, 1993, 1997; Dillon, 1981; French, 1990; Garvey, Tomita, & Woolf, 1974; Palmer, 1991a, 1991b; Rolinson, Meadows, & Smith, 1995; Skelton, 1973). These studies have shown that scientists value personal contacts as the first choice of information source, and ease of access to information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a protocol for bioinformatics analysis: An integrated information behavior and task analysis approach

Bartlett

Toms

2005

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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The purpose of this research is to capture, understand, and model the process used by bioinformatics analysts when facing a specific scientific problem. Integrating information behavior with task analysis, we interviewed 20 bioinformatics experts about the process they follow to conduct a typical bioinformatics analysis-a functional analysis of a gene, and then used a task analysis approach to model that process. We found that each expert followed a unique process in using bioinformatics resources, but had significant similarities with their peers. We synthesized these unique processes into a standard research protocol, from which we developed a procedural model that describes the process of conducting a functional analysis of a gene. The model protocol consists of a series of 16 individual steps, each of which specifies detail for the type of analysis, how and why it is conducted, the tools used, the data input and output, and the interpretation of the results. The linking of information behavior and task analysis research is a novel approach, as it provides a rich high-level view of information behavior while providing a detailed analysis at the task level. In this article we concentrate on the latter.

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Effects of online bibliographic searching on scientists' information style

Cited by 8 publications

References 8 publications

The application of cost—benefit and least effort theories in studies of information seeking behavior of humanities scholars: the case of Jewish studies scholars in Israel

The application of cost—benefit and least effort theories in studies of information seeking behavior of humanities scholars: the case of Jewish studies scholars in Israel

End‐users in academia: meeting the information needs of university researchers in an electronic age

Developing a protocol for bioinformatics analysis: An integrated information behavior and task analysis approach

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