Information needs and information seeking behavior of agricultural scientists in Malaysia

Knowledge about the information needs and seeking behavior of scientists co uld play a vital role in meeting their information needs effectively. Libra ries can use this knowledge for re-orienting their collections and faciliti es to attune them to the needs of the scientific community. This study expl ores information needs and seeking behavior of Malaysian agricultural scien tists. It was found that research scientists spent 16% of their office time on reading and literature searching, whereas academicians spent 9.3% of th eir time for this purpose. The study also revealed that scientists preferre d using primary sources of information, particularly journal and review art icles. Informal communication with professional colleagues was also conside red important for exchanging current research information. A large number o f the participants felt that they had not been keeping in touch with scient ific literature due to deficient library collections and services. This art icle recommends that science and technology libraries should periodically s urvey the information needs of their users, assess their collections and fa cilities, and strengthen their promotional activities.