THE USE OF GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS - THE CASE OF SOCIAL-SCIENTISTS ATTHE UNIVERSITY-OF-BOTSWANA

The authors surveyed 101 social scientists at the University of Botswa na to determine their use of government publications. Citation studies were also employed as a complement to the survey. The findings reveal that most of the respondents (97.3 percent) used government documents in some fashion. Moreover, most users attached a high importance to t he use of government publications for research (89 percent) and teachi ng (86 percent). The study also suggests that social scientists prefer to borrow government publications from their colleagues and obtain pe rsonal copies rather than depend on the University of Botswana Library . It is recommended that government documents be more accessible to th e establishment of government publications distribution centers as the inaccessibility of these documents is a national problem. Another rec ommendation is that the University Library should provide current awar eness services on government publications to its users. (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science Ltd.