Abstract:
A study of the use of information by chiropractors in New Zealand was undertaken in order to produce guidelines for
the establishment of library services to practitioners, and to fill a gap in the body of user studies knowledge.
This study used a survey to collect data which was then analysed using descriptive statistics.
It was found that:
The library will need to market its services strongly to the practitioners
Chiropractors are different to orthodox medical practitioners in that they use monographs more than journals and
colleagues, but are similar to medical physicians because they rarely use libraries and prefer using their own
personal collection .
Electronic information use is low in spite of high computer use and will therefore need special marketing and training
to create awareness and use.
There does not seem to be a need for special recent graduate services as there is no significant linear relationship
between professional age and print information use
Rural chiropractors and urban chiropractors do not use electronic information any differently, so will probably not
need special training or services in this area. They can be accommodated into services as a group.
