Exploring the information needs of veterinary science researchers

Abstract

With increased pressure for quality research at South African universities, one needs to reconsider the role of the information specialist as the provider of information and research support. Academic libraries are currently providing several products and services to support the information needs of researchers, but are these products and services meeting the needs of researchers effectively and efficiently? Several studies on the information needs of researchers in other disciplines exist, but the literature on information science studies devoted to the veterinary discipline is rather scarce. This paper will report on the findings of a study exploring the information needs of researchers at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to collect and analyse data from researchers as well as information specialists by means of questionnaires, focus group interviews and a citation analysis. In addition, a brief overview of services developed by the Jotello F Soga Library in response to the study will be given.