Identifying the information sources used by biomedical researchers and the reasons for their selection

Abstract

Growth in the range and type of information available in both print and electronic format, growth of the Internet, information overload, the rising cost of journals and shrinking library budgets, coupled with a rapid rate and pace of change, are all particularly significant issues impacting on both libraries and users of information. These issues are well documented in the Library and Information Science (LIS) literature (Davis and Schmidt 1998; Drake 2001; Florance, Giuse and Ketchell 2002, Herman 2001) and form the background to this research. While much of the LIS literature is written from an international perspective, these issues are equally important in a New Zealand context. They are also of concern to staff of both the Canterbury Medical Library and the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences (or CSM&HS), which is a Clinical School of the University of Otago.