Information usage by biological researchers

Continuing change in the provision of, and access to, scien tific information has stimulated interest in the nature of current information usage by scientists. Recent studies have looked at this question in terms of science as a whole. The present study complements these by concentrating on the biological sciences only. It surveys research information usage in four institutions - a university agricultural faculty, a university school of biology, a government research estab lishment and a pharmaceutical laboratory - and comple ments a study of information technology usage by biological researchers which has already appeared. It is found that biologists have a spread of information needs which paral lels in its diversity that of all the sciences taken together. Changes in information-handling in biology are occurring, but to differing extents, depending on the institution and the biological specialism.

Internet facilities: use and non-use by Nigerian university scientists

The Internet culture is creating a new scientific communication system with new facilities that are competing with, and might replace, the present printed information sources. The use and non-use of these facilities by Nigerian academic scientists were investigated, using data collected from a survey of academic staff of selected disciplines in 10 universities. It was found that the scientists are still heavily dependent on printed information sources, especially journals, indexes and abstracts. The study reveals that 64.4% of them have a computer at their disposal, while 50.4% have access to, and are using, the Internet. Besides e-mail, very little use is made of other Internet facilities. Non-use of the Internet is attributable to problems of accessibility, ease of use and cost. Most of the non-users are aware of the information and communication potential of the Internet in their disciplines, and believe that the Internet will become indispensable in their research in the future.

How French research scientists are making use of electronic journals: a case study conducted at Pierre et Marie Curie University and Denis Diderot University

There have been few studies to date on how French research scientists are using electronic journals in their work. Under a national programme for document digitisation in higher education and research, a qualitative study was conducted at the Jussieu Campus in Paris among 25 researchers and doctoral students and nine documentalists. The main disciplines covered were physics, chemistry and biology, with some representatives from mathematics, computer science and earth sciences. A user typology was built up, and several of the findings agree substantially with those in the (mainly Anglo-Saxon) literature, which demonstrate the importance of factors such as the discipline concerned and the immediate working environment of researchers, including equipment, local practice, and the resources that are promoted or made available. Other more subjective factors also need to be taken into account.