Skip to main content
PMC home page
Bulletin of the Medical Library Association logoLink to Bulletin of the Medical Library Association
. 1998 Jul;86(3):385–390.

The information behaviors of life and health scientists and health care providers: characteristics of the research literature.

E G Detlefsen 1
PMCID: PMC226386  PMID: 9681174

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In a literature-based discussion of research on the information behaviors of life and health scientists and health care practitioners, the problem of characterizing this complex literature is discussed. The issue of terminology for this interdisciplinary area is raised. The paucity of models for information seeking behavior that have been tested in a health care population is discussed, as are the frequently used methods of investigation and data collection methods. METHODS: By analyzing a large number of information behavior research studies, the questions of who does the research and where the research is published are answered. The characteristics of this research are discussed. Studies are cited that investigate the information behavior of physicians, multidisplinary groups of health professionals, medical students and faculty, nurses and other allied health personnel, life scientists, and basic science researchers. Two short case studies--on the diffusion of medical knowledge and on drug information and physician behavior--are used as examples of information behavior research. CONCLUSIONS: The importance of studying the information behavior of health and life scientists and health care providers is underscored by a discussion of the implications for further study.

Full text

PDF
389

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bird G., Heekin J. M. Survey on the use of information sources in the field of aging. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1994 Jan;82(1):30–35. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bowden V. M., Kromer M. E., Tobia R. C. Assessment of physicians' information needs in five Texas counties. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1994 Apr;82(2):189–196. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Covell D. G., Uman G. C., Manning P. R. Information needs in office practice: are they being met? Ann Intern Med. 1985 Oct;103(4):596–599. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-103-4-596. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cunningham D., Grefsheim S., Simon M., Lansing P. S. Biotechnology awareness study, Part 2: Meeting the information needs of biotechnologists. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1991 Jan;79(1):45–52. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dee C., Blazek R. Information needs of the rural physician: a descriptive study. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1993 Jul;81(3):259–264. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Forsythe D. E., Buchanan B. G., Osheroff J. A., Miller R. A. Expanding the concept of medical information: an observational study of physicians' information needs. Comput Biomed Res. 1992 Apr;25(2):181–200. doi: 10.1016/0010-4809(92)90020-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Frazier L. M., Brown J. T., Divine G. W., Fleming G. R., Philips N. M., Siegal W. C., Khayrallah M. A. Can physician education lower the cost of prescription drugs? A prospective, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 1991 Jul 15;115(2):116–121. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-115-2-116. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Giuse N. B., Huber J. T., Giuse D. A., Brown C. W., Jr, Bankowitz R. A., Hunt S. Information needs of health care professionals in an AIDS outpatient clinic as determined by chart review. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 1994 Sep-Oct;1(5):395–403. doi: 10.1136/jamia.1994.95153427. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gorman P. N., Ash J., Wykoff L. Can primary care physicians' questions be answered using the medical journal literature? Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1994 Apr;82(2):140–146. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gorman P. N., Helfand M. Information seeking in primary care: how physicians choose which clinical questions to pursue and which to leave unanswered. Med Decis Making. 1995 Apr-Jun;15(2):113–119. doi: 10.1177/0272989X9501500203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Grefsheim S., Franklin J., Cunningham D. Biotechnology awareness study, Part 1: Where scientists get their information. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1991 Jan;79(1):36–44. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gruppen L. D. Physician information seeking: improving relevance through research. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1990 Apr;78(2):165–172. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Haynes R. B. Loose connections between peer-reviewed clinical journals and clinical practice. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Nov 1;113(9):724–728. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-113-9-724. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Haynes R. B., McKibbon K. A., Walker C. J., Ryan N., Fitzgerald D., Ramsden M. F. Online access to MEDLINE in clinical settings. A study of use and usefulness. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Jan 1;112(1):78–84. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-112-1-78. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Klein M. S., Ross F. V., Adams D. L., Gilbert C. M. Effect of online literature searching on length of stay and patient care costs. Acad Med. 1994 Jun;69(6):489–495. doi: 10.1097/00001888-199406000-00017. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lindberg D. A., Siegel E. R. On assessing the impact of medical information: does MEDLINE make a difference? Methods Inf Med. 1991 Oct;30(4):239–240. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lindberg D. A., Siegel E. R., Rapp B. A., Wallingford K. T., Wilson S. R. Use of MEDLINE by physicians for clinical problem solving. JAMA. 1993 Jun 23;269(24):3124–3129. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lundeen G. W., Tenopir C., Wermager P. Information needs of rural health care practitioners in Hawaii. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1994 Apr;82(2):197–205. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Marshall J. G. The impact of the hospital library on clinical decision making: the Rochester study. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1992 Apr;80(2):169–178. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. McKibbon K. A., Haynes R. B., Dilks C. J., Ramsden M. F., Ryan N. C., Baker L., Flemming T., Fitzgerald D. How good are clinical MEDLINE searches? A comparative study of clinical end-user and librarian searches. Comput Biomed Res. 1990 Dec;23(6):583–593. doi: 10.1016/0010-4809(90)90042-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Mullaly-Quijas P., Ward D. H., Woelfl N. Using focus groups to discover health professionals' information needs: a regional marketing study. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1994 Jul;82(3):305–311. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Osheroff J. A., Forsythe D. E., Buchanan B. G., Bankowitz R. A., Blumenfeld B. H., Miller R. A. Physicians' information needs: analysis of questions posed during clinical teaching. Ann Intern Med. 1991 Apr 1;114(7):576–581. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-114-7-576. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Osiobe S. A. Use of information resources by health professionals: a review of the literature. Soc Sci Med. 1985;21(9):965–973. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(85)90418-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Phillips D. P., Kanter E. J., Bednarczyk B., Tastad P. L. Importance of the lay press in the transmission of medical knowledge to the scientific community. N Engl J Med. 1991 Oct 17;325(16):1180–1183. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199110173251620. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Shorr R. I., Greene W. L. A food-borne outbreak of expensive antibiotic use in a community teaching hospital. JAMA. 1995 Jun 28;273(24):1908–1908. doi: 10.1001/jama.273.24.1908b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Thompson M. L. Characteristics of information resources preferred by primary care physicians. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1997 Apr;85(2):187–192. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Tierney W. M., Miller M. E., McDonald C. J. The effect on test ordering of informing physicians of the charges for outpatient diagnostic tests. N Engl J Med. 1990 May 24;322(21):1499–1504. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199005243222105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Verhoeven A. A., Boerma E. J., Meyboom-de Jong B. Use of information sources by family physicians: a literature survey. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1995 Jan;83(1):85–90. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Wildemuth B. M., de Bliek R., Friedman C. P., Miya T. S. Information-seeking behaviors of medical students: a classification of questions asked of librarians and physicians. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1994 Jul;82(3):295–304. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Williamson J. W., German P. S., Weiss R., Skinner E. A., Bowes F., 3rd Health science information management and continuing education of physicians. A survey of U.S. primary care practitioners and their opinion leaders. Ann Intern Med. 1989 Jan 15;110(2):151–160. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-110-2-151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Williamson J. Education in science information management. The foundation for quality assurance in the 1990's. Qual Assur Util Rev. 1990 Nov;5(4):121–126. doi: 10.1177/0885713x9000500405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the Medical Library Association are provided here courtesy of Medical Library Association

RESOURCES