Page 69 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Information Sources and Services

Notes becomes, in effect, whatever researchers are prepared to take abroad in the belief that it may be
useful for their work.
In selecting appropriate information, researchers can either play a relatively passive role, choosing
from the information streams they encounter in their work, or they can actively seek what they
want, searching information sources they would not normally encounter. In practice, this
distinction can be blurred. Researchers often configure their environment so as to increase the
likelihood of receiving information that will help their work.

Example: The colleagues with whom a researcher chats over coffee may prove to be the
ones whose comments are particularly valuable. Nevertheless, the distinction between passive
acceptance and active searching is worth making because the motivation and activities of the
researcher can differ between the two. When researchers actively look for information, they
must know that there is a gap in their knowledge that they are trying to fill. The same is not
necessarily true of information gained by passive exposure. Their actual recognition of an
information gap may not be very well defined. This often comes to light when researchers
approach intermediaries for help. The reference interview (as librarians and information scientists
call it) nearly always requires some clarification of what the researcher wants. At this point,
words must be used with care. Wants and needs are often mentioned when talking of information
that researchers desire to have, but the two words have slightly different connotations. The
information that researchers want may not be what they actually need. To quote from one
librarian’s reference interview: “He already had in his mind what he wanted me to produce and
I had a lot of trouble getting from him enough information even to look”. The more uncertain
the nature of the gap in a researcher’s knowledge, the more likely it is that the perceived want
may not be the real need.
Formulating the information need comes first. It is followed by identification of possible sources
containing the required information then comes the process of extracting and absorbing the
information from these sources. Finally, the information must be evaluated and, if it seems
satisfactory, incorporated into the research activity.
The initial steps are common across all disciplines. All groups tend to differentiate between
information sources in terms of such factors as quality, level, types and language. Emphases can
vary. Scientists often make more use of secondary services (including computer-based services)
than social scientists do. They are also more concerned about possible errors in the information
they find. Social scientists and humanities researchers are more likely than scientists to carry out
large-scale reviews of the literature before they start.

Differences can occur within disciplines because of the variety of types of research carried out.

Example: In humanities, some research requires the study of large amounts of published
and archival material and so involves considerable travelling.
Other research entails the comparative study of material that may be most available locally.
Still others may require intensive consideration of a limited range of documentation which may
all be in the possession of the researcher. In sciences, there is a parallel range of research
activities.
Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. ……………………………often develop from a conglomerate of loosely related events.
2. The ………………… is quite helpful and facilitates the use of the book as a reference tool.

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