Abstract:
A survey was c a r r i e d out to
i n f o r m a t i o n seeking behaviour
p a r t i c i p a t i n g in the AGRINET.
s t r u c t u r e d and open-ended quest
instrument.
a s c e r t a i n i n f o r m a t i o n needs and
of the users of l i b r a r i es
A mailed questionnaire with
ions was used as the research
The r e s u l t s revealed that the a g r i c u l t u r a l s c i e n t i s t s i n S r i
Lanka were a c t i v e l y engaged i n research work. T e a c h i n g / t r a i n i n g,
management/administration, and extension were the other main
f u n c t i o n s that they performed. T h e i r primary areas of research
i n t e r e s t s were centered around t h e i r f i e l d s of subject
s p e c i a l i z a t i o n . Plant p r o t e c t i o n , plant breeding and plant
s c i e n c e s were t h e i r main subject s p e c i a l i z a t i o n.
The main purposes of seeking information by a g r i c u l t u r al
s c i e n t i s t s were to support research work i n progress and to keep
pace with the l a t e s t developments i n t h e i r f i e l d s of i n t e r e s t s.
About 32.3% of the a g r i c u l t u r a l s c i e n t i s t s d i d t h e i r l i t e r a t u re
searches by themselves, while others obtained the a s s i s t a n c e of
s e c r e t a r i e s , research a s s i s t a n t s , and l i b r a r i a n s.
