O F VETERINARY PRACT I T I ONERS I N NEW Z EA LAN D
I n r e c ent y e a r s i n f o rma t i o n management ha s t a k e n o n an i d e n t i ty of i t s own . Th i s is cert a i n l y the c a s e i n the f i e l d o f v e t e r i n a ry s c i e nce . Acc e s s to a n d the s k i l l s t o u s e i n format i on h av e become c r i t i c a l f a c t o r s
i n f l u enc i n g the s u c c e s s o f a ve t e r i na ry p ra ct i c e .
C o n s i d e r i n g the imp o r t a n c e o f i n f o rmat i o n m a n agement , i s i t a ch i evab l e i n the p r e s ent env i ronment ? Th i s i s n o t a s imp l e que s t i o n because o f the many v a r i ab l e s a s s o c i at e d with the p r o c e s s o f i n f o rma t i o n s e a rch and u s e . Un f o rtun ate l y , i f the s c i e nt i f i c l i t e rature i s an a c cu r a t e measure of the d i re c t i o n tha t i n f o rm a t i o n r e s ea rch i s g o i n g , the r e i s an i n ord i nate c o n c e nt r a t i o n o n e l e c t r o n i c d a t a p r o c e s s i ng a s it re l at e s to i n f o rmat i o n mana gement . Th i s i n i t s e l f i s not d a nge rous but i t does put the cart be f o r e the h o r s e . N o matt e r what t o o l s a re u s e d t o ach iev e i n f o rmat i o n m a n ageme n t t h e b a s i c c o n s ide rat i o n s o f wh a t the i n f o rma t i o n is to be u s ed for and what a r e the n e e d s o f t h e u s e r shou l d b e p a ramount i n the d ev e l opment o f
i n f o rma t i o n s e rv i c e s .
T h i s p r i n c ip l e p r ompt e d th i s veter i n a ry i n f o rma t i o n s e a r ch s tudy i n the f i r s t p l a c e . T h e obj e c t i v e o f the s tudy wa s to obt a i n a c l earer unde r s t and i ng o f the i n f o rma t i o n n e e d s of p r a c t i t i on e r s thr ough exam i n ing t h e s e a r c h proce s s tha t they emp l oyed .
F rom the p ract i t i on e r ' s p e r s p e ct ive i n f o rmat i on s e a rch i s a regu l a r p a rt of the p ract i c e rout i ne , but d o the i n f o rma t i on s ou r c e s s e e the veter i n a ry i n f o rm a t i o n s e a r ch p roc e s s i n t h e s ame l i ght ? Th i s que s t i o n c ou l d n o t be a n swered u s i ng the data that h a d b e e n g athered f rom the i n -depth i n t e rv i ew s or the p o s t a l s u rvey . H oweve r , the p e rcept i o n o f the i n f ormat i o n s ou r c e s w a s
i mp o rt a n t to u n d e r s t a n d p r e s ent i n f o rmat i o n s e rv i c e s b e c a u s e the i nv e s tment that the s ource p u t s i n t o the d ev e l opment of a p a r t i c u l a r i n f o rmat i o n s e rv i c e was i n f l ue n c e d by th e · a n t i c ipated use of that s e rv i c e . T h e r e f o re , the s o u r c e ' s pe rcept i o n o f the s e a rch p r o c e s s had a d i re c t impact o n the f e a t u r e s o f the s e rv i c e .
T o remedy th i s d e f i c i en cy i n the data the th i r d p h a s e o f the s tudy w a s d e s i g n e d t o c o l l e c t the p e r c ep t i on s o f t h e d e c i s i o n -make r s w it h i n s ome o f t h e m a j o r i n f o rmat i o n s ou rc e s . The s e i n c l uded : th e M i n i s try o f
9 4 A g r i cu l tu r e and F i she r i e s , f i e l d s erv i c e , l ab o r a t ory s e rv i c e , and i n f o rmat i o n s erv i c e ; a c omme rc i a l p h a rmac eut i c a l c omp an y ; the Ma s s ey Un iv e r s i ty V e t e r i na ry S ch o o l ; the Ma s s ey U n iv e r s i t y L i b r a ry ; the C e n t r e for Vete r i n a ry . C o nt inu i ng E duca t i o n ; a n d a p r ivate v e t e r i n a ry i n f o rmation s e rv i c e .
T h e r e were 9 i n -depth i n t e rv i ews conducted w i th e i th e r t h e ch i e f execut ive o r t h e i n d iv idua l d i re c t l y r e sp o n s i b l e f o r the d i s t r i but i o n o f i n f o rmat i on o r p r o c e s s i n g re que s t s f o r i n f o rmat i o n .
T h e i n t e rv iews we re co nducted and ana l y z e d i n the s ame m a n n e r as tho s e d e s c r i b e d i n chapter 3 . H oweve r , the l i n e of i n qu i ry wa s r e l ated to how the i n f orma t i on s ou r c e p e r c e ived the i n f o rmat i o n s e a rch pro c e s s u s e d by p ra c t i t i o n e r s . Respondents had to d e s c r i b e what they t h ought was happ e n i n g s i nce they were o n l y o n the r e c e i v i n g - end o f the b ehav iour .
When the data f rom p r a c t i t i o n e r s wa s c omp a red w i th the i n t e rv i ew s with i n f o rmat i on s ou r c e s dec i s i on -makers t h e r e was a subt l e d i f f e rence i n the p e r c ep t i o n of the p r o c e s s b etween the u s e r s and the supp l i e r s o f v e t e r i n a ry i n f o rmat i o n . Th i s s e ems t o have r e s u l t e d i n a m i smatch ing o f s e rv i c e s t o needs .
The s i tu a t ion c a n b e examined i n r e l at i o n t o 3 b a s i c que s t i o n s :
Wh a t i s the p e r c ep t i o n o f vet e r i n a ry p r a c t i t i o n e r s i n regards t o i n f o rmat ion s e arch?
What is the p e r c ep t i on of the i n f o rma t i o n s ou rc e s i n regards t o t h e way p r a c t i t i o n e r s u s e the i r s e rv i c e s ?
I s there a m i smatch i n the s e p e rcept i o n s ?
T H E VETERINARY PRACT I T I ONER AND INFORMAT I ON S EARCH A t th i s po int it i s n e c e s s a ry to draw t og e t h e r the c r i t i c a l components o f the l i t e rature s e a rch and the r e s u l t s obt a i ned u s i n g the 3 i n f o rmat i on r e s e a rch p a r a d i gm s t o d e s c r ib e the i n f o rmat i o n s e a rch p ro c e s s
f rom t h e pract it i o n e r ' s p e r s p e ct iv e .
The c o n c ept o f " p e r s o n a l c o n s t ruct " ( f i gu r e 4 ) i n wh i ch a ny event i s s e en a s a n i n t e rn a l ly t r an s l a t e d a n d c r e a t e d fab r i c a t i o n o f t h e event b a s ed o n p rev i o u s e xp e r i ence s e t the s t a g e f o r s ub s e quent i n f o rma t i o n s e a rch behav i ou r . The " c o n s truct s y stems " t h a t a v et e r i n a r i a n h a s i n c l u d e s a s e t o f ru l e s ( s chemat a ) t h a t d i rect h i sj h e r b eh av i our . T h i s i s r e p r e s e n t e d m o r e s p ec i f i c a l l y i n f i gure 8 i n wh i ch t h e s t e p s b etween a vet e r i na r i an f o rm i n g a " p e r s o n a l c o n s t r u c t "
STIMULI
"NEW PROBLEM SITUATION"FILTER
construct systems expenences attitudes personality evaluation cri teria personal construct o f new problem situation BEHAVIOURFig ure 8 : Informa t i o n filter and perso nal· construct model
s p e c i f i c for the i n f o r m a t i on s e a r c h p r o cess
FILTER search blem s tructure decision oblem context pro pr
pers onal need sta te
ON NEW SITUATI (problem ) construct systems personal construct BEHAVIOUR strategy source information confirmation
o f a n event a n d the sub s e quent act i o n t aken i n regards t o t h a t event has b e en expanded t o h i gh l ight t h e s t e p s i n t h e i n f o rmat i o n s e arch p r o c e s s . E a ch s t ep i n f l u e n c e s the f o l l ow i ng steps a s w e l l a s i n f l ue n c i ng t h e " p e r s o n a l c o n s t ruct " i-t s e l f .
T h i s i s a v e ry dynamic p r o c e s s a n d c yc l i c i n nature . I n f o rma t i o n s e a rch i s a proc e s s o f r e f i n ement . T h e v e t e r i n a r i a n m a k e s h i sjher w a y t h r o ugh the l ev e l s o f i n f o rma t i o n n e e d d e scr ibed by Tay l o r ( 1 9 5 8 ) . A s th i s p ro c e s s cont i n u e s the " p ersonal c o n s t ruct " chang e s and s ub s e quent i n f o rma t i on inqu i r i e s c h a ng e .
Und e r l y i ng th i s p r o c e s s are the s ch emata gov e r n i n g t h e i n f o rmat i o n s e a rch behav i our . Mecha n i ca l l y , the s e c a n b e l o o ked upon a s r e s i dent behav i ou r p rogram s . The s e h e l p the ve t e r i n a r i a n ant i c ipate what the out c om e o f t h e event w i l l b e . They even h e l p the v et e r i n a r i a n