The bibliography that follows presents information on sociologists as a user group. My interest in this patron group stems from my undergraduate studies of sociology. During the last half of my undergraduate studies, I served as a research assistant for a sociology professor and therefore had the opportunity to partake in the research methods employed by academic sociologists, albeit on a very small scale. It was my hope, in researching this user group, to better understand the information seeking behaviors and information use of persons in this particular discipline.
In conducting my search, I found that very little has been written about sociologists as a user group. Instead, most information science researchers have included sociologist in the broader category of social scientists. As much as I tried, I could not find much quantitative research conducted on sociologists as a defined user group. In light of this finding, I broadened my search to the larger category of social scientists. In doing so, I felt that perhaps I would lose focus on the distinct discipline of sociology, but luckily, this was not the case. Ever article found in the following bibliography states that sociologists were key players in the studies conducted; in fact, in all the individual studies I selected, sociologists were the majority of social science scholars found in the research samples.
The articles selected for the following bibliography have all been published in English. Not all of the studies were conducted in the United States, however. One study was conducted in Canada, one in Argentina, and the most cited study was conducted in England. The attempt was to document the most recent studies in social science user needs, and the dates of the bibliographic information range from 1988 to 2002, with one exception. That exception is a 1971 article by Maurice B. Line; one that summarizes the most significant studies of social scientists as information users that have been conducted to this day, performed by Line and his colleagues. All article selected for this bibliography are intended to be used by academic scholars, either in the social sciences or information science.
For this assignment, various search strategies were employed and a number of desirable and undesirable outcomes followed. The following list includes the search terms that were used either alone or in conjunction with others.
The initial search strategy used was (sociolog* and user need*), which recalled documents that were of little value. In this search strategy and similar strategies using variations of the term “sociology”, the articles recalled were those regarding the sociology of libraries or the sociology of information seeking. The articles had nothing to do with sociologists as a user group. With this understanding, I broadened my search terms: instead of sociology, I focused on terms associated with social science. In doing so, I found many more articles that could be of use. The best search strategy that I employed was (social scien* and information need*), and its variants dependent on the database used.
Many databases were consulted in building this bibliography. Most articles were found using DIALOG. I believe that without DIALOG, my research would have taken twice as long as had; I would say it was the most profitable tool in my searching for this assignment. The most substantive articles were found in the infosci databases in DIALOG and in LISA. Other databases that provided relevant articles were ECO, ArticleFirst, LibraryLit, and WilsonSelect. I also attempted a search via Google using the terms “social science and information needs” and found a number of scholarly websites with links that led me to a few articles that I did not encounter in my database searching; some of these are found in my background article list.
Certain problems arose during the research for this bibliography that were unexpected. The first I have already noted, that of the terminology employed in search strategies returning unreliable results. A second problem I encountered was both surprising and unexpected. I found that searching descriptors in various databases was far less accurate than I had expected. Searching the same terminology in keywords, while recalling a greater number of documents, provided a better sample of articles. And in one example in particular, descriptors and keywords did not help at all: after reading a number of articles, I found that I was in need of reviewing widely cited studies published by Maurice B. Line, in the early 1970s, Line conducted what are still considered the most important studies of the information needs of social scientists, and yet none of my search strategies had retrieved any of these documents. Puzzled, I searched DIALOG for the author Line, M. – and finally retrieved abstracts of his studies. Once I located these records, I noticed that they had one descriptor: England. Indeed, his studies were conducted in England, but no other descriptors were noted. This finding, while frustrating, has given me a better appreciation of the limitations of indexing.
Anderson, B. (1995). Fee-based online searching and social science research in traditional library settings. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 13 (2), 1-11.
Author presents data on online searching by social scientists and reviews the social sciences databases found in DIALOG. Anderson suggests the need for social science researchers to become more familiar with fee-based online searching and provides suggestions for additional social science databases to be included in DIALOG.
Buttlar, L., & Lubomyr, W.R. (1992). Cultural pluralism and ethnic diversity: authors as information users in the field of ethnic studies. Collection Management, 16(3), 13-33.
A study of published social science scholars and their information use in the interdisciplinary field of ethnic studies. Authors are most concerned with the types of sources the scholars use and their information retrieval methods. Authors rely on a survey methodology in which 150 questionnaires were sent to a random sample of authors who contributed to five major ethnic studies journals. Results give a breakdown of information-seeking methodologies and tools employed by the group studied and show that a large number of respondents are not comfortable with electronic information tools.
Hurych, J. (1986). After Bath: scientists, social scientists, and humanists in the context of online searching, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 12(3), 158-165.
A study of online information-seeking behavior of university faculty at Northern Illinois University Library. Study methodology is based on a survey of 462 faculty search request forms from 1979-1984; of the requests, 255 were requested by academics in the social sciences. Results show that social scientists and health professionals are the most frequent users of online services. Author also discusses what information is being searched by faculty in various academic disciplines. Hurych concludes that this study should help librarians in developing more attuned pre-search interviews and in anticipating what disciplinary research areas may need the most help with in online searching.
Line, M.B. (1971). The information uses and needs of social scientists: an overview of INFROSS. In L.J. Anthony (Ed.), Lines of Thought: Selected papers of Maurice B. Line (pp. 45-66). London, England: Clive Bingley.
Presents an overview of a large scale study conducted through the University of Bath of the information needs of social scientists. Methodology consists of a lengthy questionnaire, interviews, and observation. The author’s purposes in conducting such a large scale study are many, from detecting patterns of information seeking behavior to the necessary delivery timing of information. In the author’s conclusion, a social science continuum is established, where “hard” and “soft” social science disciplines are at the poles. Line states that although there are many differences in the information patterns of “hard” and “soft” disciplines, many similarities also exist. This study and others conducted by Line are often referred to as the Bath studies, and are cited in just about every article that appears in this bibliography. The Bath studies are known to be the largest and best studies ever conducted of information needs in the social sciences.
Meho, L. I., & Haas, S. W. (2001). Information-seeking behavior and use of social science faculty studying stateless nations: a case study. Library & Information Science Research, 23, 5-25.
An assessment of information seeking behavior of 20 social science faculty members from various western institutions studying the Kurds. Assessment tools used were questionnaire, citation analysis and follow-up inquiry. Authors are primarily interested in the use of government publications. Authors emphasize the contrast between studies done on the information seeking behavior of social scientists in the context of their departmental affiliation, and their current study which focuses on information seeking behavior based on research topic. Results show that the faculty members studied are aware of new information technology, and that one third of the study participants are “sometimes” or “always” reluctant to ask librarians for help.
Moed, H.F., Luwel, M., & Nederhof, A. J. (2002). Toward research performance in the humanities. Library Trends, 50(3), 498-520. Retrieved March 1, 2003, from ProQuest database.
The authors present a methodology for developing bibliometric performance indicators. Their aim is to promote discussion among scholars in the fields of humanities and social sciences on the topic of scholarliness of materials. The study was conducted at three Flemish Universities and focused on senior academic staff members in the field of Law. Although only Law scholars were studied in this case, the authors use them as one discipline representative of social science as a whole. Authors state that their research should aid librarians in research performance assessments and the analyzing and testing of classifications systems.
Mutschke, P. & Quan Haase A. (2001). Collaboration and cognitive structures in social science research fields: toward sociocognitive analysis in information systems. Scientometrics, 52(3), 487-502.
The results of a ten-year study (1989-1998) of sociologists using SOLIS, a database containing German-language social science literature, The study was conducted using cognitive mapping and social network analysis with the intent to show how such analyses use bibliographic information (keyword co-occurrence and co-authorship) to depict the relationship between cognitive and social structures in the research fields of sociology of youth and sociology of women. The authors explain how their research techniques can be used to enhance information systems
Nilsen, K. (1998). Social science research in Canada and government information policy: the Statistics Canada example, Library & Information Science Research, 20(3), 211-234.
An examination of the effects of changes in Canadian government information policy on social scientists’ use of government statistics. Author studies the policy changes’ effects on Statistics Canada, a government agency, and how the increase in price for journals and other statistical sources affect the use of these materials in the social sciences. Nilsen employs methods of case study, bibliometric research, and survey analysis in this report. Research concludes that social science researchers were unhappy with price increases but did not change their usage of statistical information sources. However, the author cautions that price increases may hold back the demand for additional information sources, and calls for more research to be conducted in this area.
Slater, M. (1988). Social scientists’ information needs in the 1980s. Journal of Documentation, 44(3), 226-237.
Author presents a summary of results from interviews conducted with social science scholars for the British Library. Slater includes essential background information such as the history of user studies in the social scientists, and explores the ongoing debate of what disciplines are covered in the broad categorization of social science. Results of the study show that in the late 1980s, large budget cuts in university libraries led to problems in information-seeking for social science researchers, and most respondents believed that the solution to such problems would be found in further development of online search tools.
Slater, M. (1990). Applied social scientists in the United Kingdom: information and communication problems. Behavioral & Social Science Librarian, 9(1), 5-20.
Author provides analysis of in-depth interviews of 42 social scientists in Southeast England. Author defends the use of qualitative methods stating that it provides better understanding of the nature and causes of problems faced by the population studied, and as such may be more effective in developing solutions to problems. Slater reviews 13 major problems in information-seeking and availability, and 18 possible solutions to these problems.
Brittain, J.M. (1989). Cultural boundaries of the social sciences in the 1990s; new policies for documentation, information and knowledge creation. International Social Sciences Journal, 41, 105-114.
Provides a brief history of social science information growth on an international scale. Author argues that social science policy should change to adapt to this growth, particularly in the area of new information technologies. Author concludes that there is an urgent need for information systems that will assist social science scholars in knowledge creation rather than data retrieval and dissemination.
Campbell, R.T. (2001). Entry in the International Encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences Databases, Core:Sociology
Encyclopedic entry discussing the databases used in the social sciences. Impact of databases on the discipline of sociology, and overview of emerging databases, design and ease of use are all documented. The importance of the future of electronic databases is also noted.
Caufield Felt, E. (1995). The beginner’s guide to internet resources in sociology. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 14(1), 29-42
Author presents a number of electronic sources that would be helpful in sociology research. Article is specifically geared toward the sociologist with little online experience.
Gray, A,S, & Geraci, D. (1995). Complex reference services: data files for social research. Reference Librarian, 48, 131-151.
Authors present information regarding social scientists’ use of reference materials and explain how reference professionals can better handle information queries from this patron group. Authors conclude that the understanding of quantitative social research and the problems that exist with the use of current sources will help reference professionals to better serve the needs of social science researchers.
Hobohm, H. (1999). Social science information & documentation: is the time ripe for a state of the art? IFLA Council and General Conference. Conference Programme and Proceedings (65th, Bangkok, Thailand, August 20-28). Retrieved on February 15, 2003 from ERIC.
Paper reviews the history of M.B. Line’s Bath studies and the changes in social science information behavior since the early 1970s. Author states that “social sciences have a twofold problem with information systems: the rigid methods of the computer with regard to storing and retrieving information, and the fuzzy object and informal scientific behaviour of the scholars”. Author also addresses socioeconomic implications of “sub-optimal information infrastructures” in the social sciences and calls for additional research to be conducted in this area.
Line, M.B. (1999). Social science information: the poor relation. In IFLA Council and General Conference. Programme and Proceedings (65th, Bangkok, Thailand, August 20-28). Retrieved on February 15, 2003 from ERIC.
Paper revisits the extensive research project of the author in the late 1960s and early 70s and then looks at the problems that were evident in social science information needs at that time. Author explains that most of these problems have not been rectified in the decades since the original study, and calls for additional research into these problems in the current age.
McDermott, I. E. (1998). Caulking the cracks: scholarly social science resources on the Web. Searcher, 6(1), 18-26.
Author writes of her dissatisfaction with databases that do not differentiate between the humanities and social sciences. Author focuses on the problems that arise when sociologist seek information, since sociological research crosses many disciplines. McDermott questions librarians about how they direct their social science searchers to appropriate online databases. The author sites a number of scholarly indexes and databases and describes how they may be used by sociologists.
Robbin, A. (1995). SIPP ACCESS, an information system for complex data: a case study in creating a collaboratory for the social sciences. Internet Research, 5(2) 37. Retrieved February 29, 2003 from ProQuest database.
Article presents information on SIPP ACCESS, a project of the University if Wisconsin-Madison to develop a prototype of a collaboratoty for use of social scientists. A collaboratory is defined as online communication, cooperation, and collaboration between a body of researchers. Author concludes that the development of such a collaboratory would be difficult in the social science field due to many obstacles, including the conservatism in many disciplines. However, the author feels that such a project may work in the future, especially due to advances in technology.
Spanner, D. (2001). Border-crossings: understanding the cultural and information dilemmas of interdisciplinary scholars. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 27(5), 352-360.
A study of 23 interdisciplinary scholars, 10 of which are social scientists, that examines research behavior and information-seeking habits. Author notes that in this growing field, it is often difficult for such researchers to find quality information sources which leads to collection development being of major concern, Study also concludes that the capabilities of the Web are held in high regard by this community or researchers.
Stoan, S.K. (1991). Research and information retrieval among academic researchers: implications for library instruction. Library Trends, 39(3) 328-357.
Author integrates findings from prior studies ( by librarians and non-librarians) of information-seeking behavior and information usage of academics. In the section devoted to social science researchers, the author states that this group mainly relies on citations, colleague recommendation, bibliographic files, and browsing. It is also noted that social scientists rely on primary sources that are not necessarily indexed as social science literature. Author concludes that libraries should continue to offer training on online sources for academic researchers, but that most researchers are content with their present state of information-seeking and use and that online training should not be overemphasized.