Iranian Journal of Information Science and Technology

Vol 2, No 2, ISSN 1726-8125, 2004

INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOR: THE CASE OF SPECIALISTS, RESIDENTS AND INTERNS AT HOSPITALS OF AHVAZ UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Z. BIGDELI,¹ Ph.D., Department of Library and Information Science, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, I. R. of Iran

Abstract

This study attempts to investigate the information-seeking behavior of specialists, residents and interns at the hospitals of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The data were collected through a questionnaire completed by 114 respondents. The research findings revealed that the three groups used informal channels (i.e. conferences) in order to obtain specific as well as general information to keep abreast with progress in medicine. Though specialists, residents and interns reported similar information seeking behaviors, their experiences vary significantly. Personal problems in keeping abreast with progress in medicine were related to time constrain and lack of familiarity with using information sources. Moreover, for all three groups, organizational or non-personal problems involved poor quality of collections and inadequate number of books as well as their out-of-dateness.

Keywords - Information Seeking Behavior, Physicians, Medical students, Ahvaz, Iran, Hospitals.

email: bigdeli_zahed@yahoo.co.in