A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE SURVEYS OF SCIENTISTS' USE OF LIBRARIES

The subject is the surveys made of the scientists' use of libraries for acquiring information. Surveys which deal only with the use of the various forms of literature (its age, language, etc.) are not included. The methods used in the surveys are considered briefly in order to show how they may have affected the results. The analysis of the available data has been done under the following headings: preferred ways of finding information; reading; use of review articles; abstracts; personal indexes; catalogues; library services; differences between scientist populations (by subject field and type of work). The main features of the analysis are summarized in the first part of the discussion. The rest of the discussion deals with the data which should be collected, including information on the influence of the variables subject field, type of work, availability of library stock and previous experience of library services. The use of the data obtained is considered. A list of items read and a citation index of the surveys and important articles in the field are included.

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