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Search for Quality Information. How do search librarians and how the end users Livia Vasas General Director of Central library Jolan Hercsel Reference Librarian Semmelweis University Budapest Hungary. Librarians: university librarians hospital librarians
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Search for Quality Information How do search librarians and how the end users Livia Vasas General Director of Central library Jolan Hercsel Reference Librarian Semmelweis University Budapest Hungary
Librarians: university librarians hospital librarians librarians from pharmaceutical factories other librarians End users: Researcher physicians General Practitioners Ph.D. aspirants University students of 10-12th semester Subjects of Survey
Analysis of information seeking activity of target groups • Elements of the multi-step survey: • 1.Disclosure of personal characteristics: • a)Locus of Control test • b)Activity test • c)Self test of motivation • 2.Survey of information seeking by means of questionnaires • 3. Evaluation of results by test-searches
Global data of surveyed population • Distributed questionnaires : 400 • Evaluable returned questionnaires: 347 • Distribution by gender: 57 % men and 43 % women • In group of librarians: 83 % women • Remark: The distribution by gender , occupation and education has no impact on the usage of electronic information sources in case of the present population
Medical librarians Tasks: acquisition and disclosing sources, teaching the usage thereof, gaining and transmitting information Education: university or high school, language examination of medium degree, skill in computer usage End users: Physicians:professional researchers , clinicians ,Ph..D aspirants and general practitioners with university or even higher degree, with knowledge of languages and skills in computer usage Medical university students of higher classes: good results of studies, knowledge of languages and skills in computer techniques Characteristics of the surveyed groups
Distribution of the surveyed population by qualification Distribution of population by qualification
Rotter test of the global population • Remark: maximum of the distribution curve at 80 %, higher than expected Figure 19 Global distribution of participants by LoC (<30 ÷100)
Frequency of usage of MEDLINE versions Frequency of usage of the main MEDLINE versions
Usage of the main MEDLINE versions according to the different groups of users Choice of main MEDLINE versions by user group
Frequency of usage of Internet and CD ROM databases Remark: majority of database users are from among the frequent users. 36 people of those preferring the databases are librarians Figure 18 Frequency of usage of internet and CD-ROM Databases
Strategy of search and the Locus of Control • Five questions about the relation of the elements of the search strategy to the Locus of Control: • What are the preferred types of tricks of search? • Do yourepeat the search in another form if you do not find appropriate results? • Do you limit the envisaged time of search?.Do you feel uncertainity about four hits? • Which level of sources/databases would you prefer as compared to your knowledges: higher or lover professional level? • Vast majority of factors which influence the search strategy, have some correlation with the LOC
Knowledge of languages and the strategy of search • Building up the search strategy is typical logical mental work, performed in mother tongue in mind, as a consequence it is not dependent on knowledge of languages.
Main features of searches of librarians • Only 25 % of them prefers the composed search • They are mainly commissioned searchers, • Their queries consist of single subjects of headings • They work with selected sets of information, by means of the mean Boolean operators • They proceed from the general concepts to the unique ones combining the most general concepts • They store the partial results for possible later searches • 71 % of them does not limit the envisaged time of search, they work till gaining the desired result
Most often used databases in descending frequency: MEDLINE, EMBASE, EISZ, WOSC, IPA, MICROMEDEX, Gale Group Health and Wellness Resource Center, Others: Springerperiodicals, On Line encyclopedias, ISI,JCR,SCI,SSCI Internet sources in open sets: Ask Jeeves, Info Seek, Yahoo, Google, etc. Remark:Inconvenience, that none of the Internet browsers can find the free seaarchable and accessible catalogues of MARC format. Preferred sources by the librarians
Evaluation of hits by the librarians, aspects of delivering the results • The librarians have to check the results with special regard to the desired points of view of the end user • The librarians have to consider: to whom is the information addressed. • They sholud check, whether the authors are identifiable (Internet sources should be controlled by databases) • The information should be exact, complete, objective, reliable, up-to-date and relevant. • The librarians must not interprete the content of the information and must not stand for the veracity neither of the hits.
How do search the physicians • They are able to judge the order of quantity of the expectable hits • Their queries do not consist of single subject headings • Their simple queries consist of associated concepts • They apply associative complementary filters • They use Boolean auxiliary operators • They don’t ”search”, they ”construct” • They prefer database retrievals • They use meta-browsers to search for Internet sources • They can decide on the relevance of their hits easily
Behaviour during information seeking in case of initial inefficiency
Test population • 40 librarians from research institutes, univerity libraries anf hsospitals • 6o students of the accredited course of literature search at the Doctoral School of Semmelweis University
Tasks • To find the newest edition of a concrete textbook and its accessibility • To find events from History of medicine • To find relevant data from health statistics • Electronic search of graphical data • Search for pictures (CT, NMR or RTG) of foreign body in stomach or brain • EU directives related to health education
Conclusions of the analyses • Those taking part in this practical survey acted as expected based on the results of the previous survey. This proves the veracity od our results. • We determined the factors which impede or help the expedient search. • The medical professional backgraund appears definitely at the evaluation of hits.
Factors impeding the expedient search • Inadequate Internet connection • Lacking purchased scientific resources • Inexperience in usage of Internet browsers • Lack of searching experience • Lack of insistence • Illogical, incorrect, superficial search • not adaptable way of thinking • lack of methodological knowledge of evaluation of results
Factors increasing the successfulness • Searching in different sources • Selection of sources • Correction in steps • Dissatisfaction with the hits • In general: search in full-text resources • Experience from the previous searches