Page 81 - DLIS407_INFORMATION AND LITERATURE SURVEY IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

Information and Literature Survey in Social Sciences

Notes Usually, technological gatekeepers are persons other than scientists, working in an organization to
whom others turn for technical discussion and consultation, and since they have good contact with
professional societies, and technically trained friends outside the laboratory they provide information
about the progress within the organization. Such gatekeepers have good network of their own within
the laboratory, they also attend conferences quite frequently. So, information which is authentic can
be obtained from these gatekeepers who though not specialists, yet are specialists.

Unpublished Works

There are a number of documents which do contain information but are not formally published, are
said to be unpublished works. Although, such works contain solutions to problems, study or new
innovations. May be of great use to the users in a subject area. Such works include dissertations, thesis,
reports etc., which if published would be of great importance.

Conversation with Colleagues, Visitors etc.

Another informal way of gathering information is through the conversations between colleagues or
visitors, who try to contact the organizations for information. The scientists while conversing with
each other discuss various aspects of the subject dealt with, so they exchange information through
their interaction with their colleagues or visitors. This information is not recorded any where although
it is quite meaningful and useful.

Messages Obtains Through Telephone, Correspondence etc.

Yet, another means of obtaining information is through the correspondence made between scientists,
as even in their letters, they may discuss certain ideas, that may be useful similarly, they may discuss
a number of things on telephone, which has become a very convenient form of communication these
days.

Work in Progress

The progress of research work can be obtained only when the work is completed, in the form of report.
But, if the progress is gathered by an author, the information can be sought informally and published
in reviews. This would give the information of the progress in work and other details.

Reprints
The reprints of the manuscripts to be presented in the seminar may be obtained and provided to
the colleagues, friends and scientists. This will assist them in preparing themselves for the seminar,
where they may be in a better position to put up questions and understand the on- going discussions,
effectively.

Task Social work is concerned with social problems, their causes, their solutions and
their human impacts. Social workers work with individuals, families, groups,
organizations and communities.

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