Page 68 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Unit 4: Information Services and Products

Conceptual Information: The ideas, theories, hypothesis about the relationship which Notes
exists among the variables in the area of the problem.

Empirical Information: Experience or the data of research may be drawn from one’s self
or, through communication, from others. It may be laboratory generated or it may be the
product of “literature search”.

Procedural Information: This is the methodology which enables the investigator to operate
more effectively. It relates to the means by which data of the investigation are obtained,
manipulated, and tested; it is essentially methodological and from it has been derived the
“scientific attitude.”

Stimulatory Information: Man must be motivated and there are two sources for such
motivation”: himself and the environment. Such information that is environmentally
derived is probably most effective when it is transmitted by direct communication.

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Caution But whether information is directly or indirectly communicated, it is probably
the most difficult of all forms of information to systemize.
The emphasis on teamwork is derived from concentrated attack of many minds, with
varying skills, aptitudes, experience and points of view. Teamwork magnifies and
complicates the informational tasks and greatly increases its importance.
Policy Information: This is the focus of the decision-making process. Collective activity
necessitates the definition of objective and purpose, the fixing of responsibility, the
codification of rights and privileges and the delineation of function.
Directive Information: Group activity cannot proceed effectively without coordination,
and it is through directive information that this coordination is achieved.

4.1.4 Nature and Characteristics of Information

Information of one sort or another impinges on a researcher all the time. Most of it flows past
unabsorbed: what is required is “relevant” information. The adjective here is placed in quotation
marks because one of the fundamental problems of information retrieval is actually deciding
what “relevant” means in a particular context. It can, in the first instance, be time dependent.
Information is often required at a specific point in the development of a research project. If it is
identified and retrieved at the point, it may be highly relevant; if not, it may become totally
irrelevant. Again, the information must be available in an appropriate form for it to be relevant.

Example: When seeking to learn about previous work immediately relevant to their
projects, researchers may turn to books; and for “knowhow” on techniques to be used, they may
turn to colleagues for advice.
What constitutes an appropriate form can also depend on the seniority of the researcher.

Example: Research students are the main users of other students’ dissertations in most
subjects. The general requirement is that information must be supplied at a time, and in a form,
that makes it most likely that the researcher will absorb it. Even so, the absorption is typically
selective. One of the findings of mass-media research is that members of the audience tend to
restructure what they see or hear to fit in with their own preconceptions. Researchers consult the
same sources of information; they may see quite different things in them. “Relevant” information

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