Information-Seeking Behavior and Use of Social Science Faculty Studying Stateless Nations: A Case Study

Meho, Lokman I. and Haas, Stephanie W. Information-Seeking Behavior and Use of Social Science Faculty Studying Stateless Nations: A Case Study. Library & Information Science Research, 2001, vol. 23, n. 1, pp. 5-25. [Journal article (Paginated)]

[img]
Preview
PDF
meho-haas.pdf

Download (136kB) | Preview

English abstract

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 and electronic mail too 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’s behavioral model, and that faculty examined here employ a somewhat 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 has been discovered, however, further research is required to verify that. Implications on library services and suggestions for future research are presented.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: information-seeking behavior, social scientists, information needs, government information, information use
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BH. Information needs and information requirements analysis.
Depositing user: Lokman I. Meho
Date deposited: 07 Oct 2006
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:04
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/8186

References

Adam, Ralph. (1982). Language and information retrieval in the social sciences. Aslib Proceedings, 34, 394-405.

Adams, Judith. A., & Bonk, Sharon C. (1995). Electronic information technologies and resources: Use by university faculty and faculty preferences for related library services. College & Research Libraries, 56, 119-131.

Caswell, Thomas Reed. (1997). Studies on government publications’ use, 1990-1996. Government Information Quarterly, 14, 363-371.

Eager, Carolyn, & Oppenheim, Charles. (1996). An observational method for undertaking user needs studies. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 28, 15-23.

Ellis, David. (1986). Social science information research. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 37, 86-88.

Ellis, David. (1989). A behavioral approach to information retrieval system design. Journal of Documentation, 45, 171-212.

Ellis, David. (1993). Modeling the information-seeking patterns of academic researchers: A grounded theory approach. Library Quarterly, 63, 469-486.

Ellis, David, Cox, Deborah, & Hall, Katherine. (1993). A comparison of the information seeking patterns of researchers in the physical and social sciences. Journal of Documentation, 49, 356-369.

Faibisoff, Sylvia G., & Ely, Donald P. (1976). Information and information needs. Information Reports and Bibliographies, 5 (5), 2-16.

Folster, Mary B. (1989). A study of the use of information sources by social science researchers. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 15, 7-11.

Garvey, W.D., Lin, Nan, & Nelson, Carnot E. (1970). Communication in the physical and the social sciences. Science, 170, 1166-1173.

Garvey, W.D., Lin, Nan, & Nelson, Carnot E. (1971). Scientific communication behavior of social and physical scientists. International Social Science Journal, 23, 256-271.

Gurr, Tedd Robert, et al. (1993). Minorities at risk: A global view of ethnopolitical conflicts. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.

Harris, Roma M., & Dewdney, Patricia. (1994). Barriers to information: How formal help systems fail battered women. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Hart, Richard L. (1993). The information-gathering behavior of the faculty of a four-year state college. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hart, Richard L. (1997). Information gathering among the faculty of a comprehensive college: Formality and globality. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 23, 21-27.

Hassanpour, Amir. (1992). Nationalism and language in Kurdistan, 1918-1985. San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press.

Hernon, Peter. (1979a). Use of government publications by social scientists. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Pub. Corp.

Hernon, Peter. (1979b). Infrequent use and non-use of government publications by social scientists. Government Publications Review, 6, 359-371.

Hogeweg de Haart, H.P. (1983). Characteristics of social science information: A selective review of the literature: Part I. Social Science Information Studies, 3, 147-164.

Hogeweg de Haart, H.P. (1983). Characteristics of social science information: A selective review of the literature: Part II. Social Science Information Studies, 4, 15-30.

Johansson, Eve. (1982). The definition of official publications. IFLA Journal, 8, 393-395.

Kreyenbroek, Philip G., & Sperl, Stefan, eds. (1992). The Kurds: A contemporary overview. London: Routledge.

Kurdish Institute of Paris. (2000). Kurdish Institute of Paris home page. Paris: Kurdish Institute of Paris [resource on the World Wide Web]. URL: (http://www.institutkurde.org/homea.htm) (accessed via the Internet, August 9, 2000).

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (1996). Critique: Review of the U.S. Department of State’s country reports on human rights practices for 1996. New York: Lawyers Committee.

Line, Maurice B. (1971). The information uses and needs of social scientists: An overview of INFROSS. Aslib Proceedings, 23, 412-434.

Line, Maurice B. (1973). Information needs of the social sciences. INSPEL, 8 (2), 29-39.

Line, Maurice B. (1979). The influence of the type of sources used on the results of citation analyses. Journal of Documentation, 35, 265-284.

Line, Maurice B. (1981). The structure of social science literature as shown by a large-scale citation analysis. Social Science Information Studies, 1, 67-87.

Line, Maurice B., Brittain, J. Michael, & Cranmer, F. A. (1971). Information Requirements of Researchers in the Social Sciences. Research Reports, 1-5. Bath, England: Bath University Library.

Marchionini, Gary. (1995). Information-seeking in electronic environments. New York: Cambridge University Press.

McDowall, David. (1996). A modern history of the Kurds. London: I.B. Tauris.

Meho, Lokman I. (1997). The Kurds and Kurdistan: A selective and annotated bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Meho, Lokman I. (2001). “The Kurds and Kurdistan: A general background.” In Lokman I. Meho & Kelly Maglaughlin (comps.). Kurdish culture and society: An annotated bibliography (pp. 3-26). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Meho, Lokman I., & Maglaughlin, Kelly L. (2001). Kurdish culture and society: An annotated bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Meho , Lokman I ., & Sonnenwald , Diane H. (2000). Citation ranking versus peer evaluation of senior faculty research performance: a case study of Kurdish scholarship. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51, 123-138.

Middle East Studies Association of North America. (1995). Directory of members. Tucson, AZ: Middle East Studies Association of North America.

Minahan, James. (1996). Nations without states: A historical dictionary of contemporary national movements. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Mooko, Neo Patricia, & Aina, Lenrie O. (1998). The use of government publications: The case of social scientists at the University of Botswana. Journal of Government Information, 25, 359-365.

Olson, Robert W. (1989). The emergence of Kurdish nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880-1925. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Postema, Beth, & Weech, Terry L. (1991). The use of government publications: A twelve-year perspective. Government Publications Review, 18, 223-238.

Preschel, Barbara M., & Woods, Lawrence J. (1989). Social science information. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 23, 267-292.

Shoham, Snunith. (1998). Scholarly communication: A study of Israeli academic researchers. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 30, 113-121.

Stoan, Stephen K. (1991). Research and information retrieval among academic researchers: Implications for library instruction. Library Trends, 39, 238-257.

Verhoeven, S. M. (1990). User surveys. In Allen Kent (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, vol. 45 (pp. 373-399). New York: Marcel Dekker.

Westbrook, Lynn. (1999). Interdisciplinary information seeking in women’s studies. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.

Wilson, T.D. (2000). Human information behavior. Informing Science, 3 (2), 49-55.


Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item