An interview based survey of the DOD RDT&E population was conducted to determine how DOD scientists and engineers presently acquire and use scientific and technical informiation. Depth interviews were conducted wilth 1375 respondents randomly selected from the 36, 000 members of the DOD RDT&E population. The critical incident interviewing technique was used to isolate a recently completed task, and to define the characteristics (e. g., dehpth, volume, class, timecliness, field niedia) of th information acquired and used ir the performance of that task. A scmi-. tructured interview guide and handbook were developed and used to ensure consistenqNy of question interpretation. A data compilation system and computer programs were developed to compile, analyz:e, compress, and present the data. Approximately 600 one-way, twvo-way and thren-way tables wvere prepared to aid in the analysis. These tables and narrative data were analyzed and interpreted, and resulted in a series of firidiags, Conclusions and recoinmendt1(itions.This report is containedl in 2 volunies. Vo1lme I consists of three sections entitled: M anagem~ent Report, Conduct of Study, and Analysis of Data, plus four appendices entitled: Study Execution, Discussion 1-12 1-10Depth of Information o.... Example of a 'vo-Wav and an even larger number in industry. It is therefore not surprising that DOD, the largest sponsor of research and engineering, should be paying increasing attention to the manner in which scientific and technical information is acquired, processed, packaged, delivered, and used by its engineers and scientists. The Information ProblemThe "information problem" is generally attributed to the exponential growth *of the technical literature. In reality, there are a series of information problems the edges of disciplines appear to become more blurred, whole new areas spring forth, and the semantic distortion among author, systems of storage and retrieval, and user become more and more involved. Under such conditions, the technical man is frequently unaware of prior work and repeats tasks which have already been accomplished. 1-1The magnitude and importance of the information problem have resulted in the establishment of a number of new information activities. Most of these are oriented around the announcement and distribution of documents -usually technical reports. More recently, the emphasis has shifted to technical information analysis centers which also perform the functions of evaluation, correlation, and synthesis of information.It is not at all clear, however, that these information activities are, or will ultimately be, effective solutions to the information problem since the needs of the ultimate user are not adequately understood.The present situatioii is vividly portrayed by Alan Rees of WesternReservt: Uiaersity in an. article in Information Retrieval in Action 1 ) ae information retrieval field has been plagued for many rty busy people spending large sums of money, designing -or attempting to design -phantom systems for non-exis...
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