Library Practitioners' Use of Library Literature.

Abstract

THIS STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN to examine the way in which professional librarians and upper-level support staff (paraprofessionals) gain access to and use the literature of librarianship.It focuses on use patterns for those subjects within the field which are most widely requested for interlibrary loan.While there have been studies such as Olsgaard and Olsgaard (1980)' and Adamson and Zamora ( 1 9 ~) ~ which have investigated the authorship of articles in library and information science, and Peritz ( 1 9 ~) ~ and Atkins (1988)4 which have reported on the content of the literature, there has been no substantive research on what is read by librarians.Indeed, it has been assumed to be difficult to conduct a study on what librarians actually read (Bloomfield, 1979).5 Surveys, such as those reported by Shields and Lynam, have been used to assess the reading habits of librarians.However, these efforts have tended to focus on the type (book, journal, research report, etc.) of material read, not the subject content of the material.In addition, such surveys are prone to biases in the responses received which affect the accuracy of the data.Kidston points out that the answer by a respondent may not be the qucstion asked by the surveyor,6 and Phillips suggests that people respond to questionnaires by giving what they believe to be socially acceptable answers.'It is a rare individual who will admit that they read