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European research letter: Social science information research
Abstract
En sciences sociales, la recherche peut concerner: soit une communaute particuliere ― chercheurs, praticiens ou decideurs et par consequent un domaine precis ― soit des problemes d'information ― generation, communication, utilisation ― examines avec des methodes et dans des perspectives propres aux sciences sociales. Les recherches faites en Europe suivant ces deux axes et notamment les programmes mis en œuvre sont rapidement examines. (INTD)
... There are numerous studies of the characteristics of social science information and the information-seeking activities of social scientists, both academic and nonacademic (e.g., Ellis, 1989Ellis, , 1993Ellis, Cox, & Hall, 1993;Garvey, Lin, & Nelson, 1970, 1971Line, 1971Line, , 1973Line, , 1979Line, , 1981Line, Brittain, & Cranmer, 1971). These and other more recent studies have, in turn, been extensively reviewed (e.g., Adam, 1982;Eager & Oppenheim, 1996;Ellis, 1986;Hogeweg de Haart, 1983a, 1983bPreschel & Woods, 1989). This literature has, however, primarily focused on the information needs, seeking behavior, and use of scholars in the context of their departmental affiliation. ...
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 (Web) and electronic mail (e-mail) 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' behavioral model, and that faculty examined here employ somewhat a 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 have been discovered, however, further research is required to verify that. Implications for library services and suggestions for future research are presented.
Mode of access: Internet, via World Wide Web. System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Title from title page display. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2000. Includes bibliographical references.
Project INISS is the first major investigation of the information needs of social services staff in this country. This paper describes the origins of the project, the method employed in the first phase of the study, some of the findings, and implications for information services in these environments.
This paper presents a review of mainly English language literature on the scope of the social sciences as understood in various countries, on the linkings between social science disciplines, on the general characteristics of social science and of social science information, on the characteristics of the primary sources and of secondary information services, on the characteristics of the flow of information, and on the characteristics of the use of social science information by social science researchers as well as by social scientists in non-research environments and non-social scientists in need of social science information, especially in decision-making processes. As far as possible comparisons are made with information in science and the humanities.
This paper examines the notion of ‘information man’ by analogy with ‘economic man’ and seeks to discover how the concept has been used implicitly in user studies and bibliometrics. The conclusion is reached that a primitive conception of information man is to be found in such studies and the reasons for this are examined. More sophisticated versions of information man are seen to be emerging from some recent work.
This paper describes the second phase of Project INISS which involved structured interviews with 151 members of staff of four social services departments. The planning, design and execution of the interviews are described and results are analysed under three headings: the context of information needs, organization communication, and information need/information‐seeking behaviour. The implications of the work for the information profession are explored.
There is a critical lacuna in information retrieval research between the theoretical framework employed in laboratory tests to explain the performance of information retrieval systems, and the sorts of factors which bear on their operational effectiveness. The influence of assumptions as to which factors it is important to take into account in evaluations of the effectiveness of information retrieval systems, derived from the laboratory testing approach in the form of an implicit model of the retrieval situation, has had an inhibiting effect on information retrieval research. Evaluations of the operational effectiveness of information retrieval systems are particularly hampered by the absence of a suitable conceptual framework of explanation. The argument of this paper is that there is a need for more microevaluation of the activities and environments of the users of information systems in order to develop an understanding of the relation of information services to those activities and environments. This sort of understanding should provide more in the way of guidance for the design of more effective systems than is available from current information retrieval theory.
The relationship between theory and explanation in informa tion retrieval research is analysed. Problems in the development of a generalisable information retrieval theory from informa tion retrieval experiment and the associated mathematical mod elling is examined. The source of these problems is traced back to assumptions underlying information retrieval research, and to the nature of the relationship between the theoretical frame work of information retrieval research and the nature of the problems on which this framework is brought to bear. Particu lar attention is directed to problems in measurement, in estab lishing a significant relationship between test results and results from operational evaluations, and in establishing a connection between the situational and behavioural assumptions employed in information retrieval research and real situations and be haviour.
The attempt to develop information retrieval research as an experimental science akin to natural science or engineering, around the notion of the quantification of relevance is miscon ceived. In order for information retrieval research to break out of the limitations of its present theoretical framework, and of the backwater to which that framework has led, a reorientation is required. The argument of this paper is that information retrieval research needs to be reoriented from a focus on the information retrieval system and on supposed 'systemic' factors to an orientation to the user and the user's interaction with information sources.
The growth of the social sciences has necessitated the development of formal systems of information storage, retrieval and dissemination over and above any informal and personal contact between individuals. The contribution of information scientists, in their attempts to structure social science information, raises certain questions about the epistemology of the social sciences. The writers examine these and some of the major problems related to the communication of information in sociology. They postulate a model derived from recent thinking in the sociology of knowledge, i.e., that the construction and validation of knowledge is itself a social process. Some possible implications of this approach are investigated.
The broader context in the last twenty years awareness of the information and documentation problems of the social sciences has grown, but almost as if by stealth. During that period there have been significant developments for practice, organization and research in social science information, but knowledge of these has remained largely confined to small groups of specialists closely associated with them. In the main it has been library and information developments in science and technology that have captured the interest and attention of the majority of professionals and specialists as such: for example, the development of computer-based citation indexes; the introduction of the computer database as a successor to the printed secondary journal; the development of online search facilities and associated software and retrieval techniques; the exploitation of telecommunications and computers to create new information technology, leading to alternative means of interpersonal communication, the possibilities of electronic journals and a vision of the paperless society. This situation is hardly surprising since science and technology provide the productive base for advanced societies.
When INFROSS began in the autumn of 1967, although a large number of studies had been conducted into the requirements of scientists for information, very little had been done in the field of social science information. There are a number of possible reasons for this. Social scientists, faced with a much smaller total volume of information, were much less information-conscious and less inclined to seek for solutions. There are very few specialist libraries in the social sciences, and few librarians were therefore confronted with social scientists' information needs in the same way as librarians in scientific libraries were confronted with users and their problems. Finally, until OSTI came along there was little in the way of funds to support this kind of research. This almost total absence of previous research had its disadvantages and advantages. There were very few clues to guide us, and we were therefore working to a certain extent in the dark. On the other hand, we had a clean and open field uncorrupted by confusing and non-comparable studies. There is something to be said for being one of the first in a field. (For an extended review of relevant work previously carried out, Michael Brittain's book should be consulted.)
The claims of the social sciences to be of universal interest, value, and use are challenged. Citation data show that there is not a free flow of information across language and national boundaries. The implications for the design of a new generation of library and information services which reflect the communication activities and information requirements of social scientists are considered.
Conventional information systems, founded on objectivist assumptions, are inappropriate for social scientists. Starting from a sociological standpoint, this article proposes an alternative type of system, developed during research with a group of subject specialists.
Library and information service provision is still dominated by ideas derived from a positivist view of information science. Some of the consequences of this stance are examined including the distortion of such concepts as the ‘information user’, ‘user education’ and ‘information need’. A fresh approach to information research and development is described, based on greater understanding of information users. The limitations of the phenomenological approach to information service design are explored.The second half of this article describes the Education Management Information Exchange, an experimental research project aimed at developing and testing a range of information services for education officers and advisers in local authority education departments. Three phases of the project are outlined: an exploratory phase which included observation of education officers at work; a six-month trial period in which services were tested; and the current operational phase during which services are being offered to all LEAs in England and Wales. The role of an EMIE-style service in relation to decision-making is discussed and the case is advanced for closer involvement of users in information service design and provision.
Study in Indexing and Classification in the Sociology of Education
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