Little occurs in the practice of dentistry that is not related in some way to obtaining synthesizing and applying information. The need for information can be prompted by one or more tasks associated with the work roles private practice dentists assume on any given day: patient management/treatment provider, student, educator, practice manager/administrator, or researcher. To determine if work roles affect the choice of information sources used, Leckie, Pettigrew and Sylvain's (1996) general model of professionals' information seeking was used to guide interviews with twelve private practice dentists from the metropolitan area of Everett, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Dentists were presented with five distinct vignettes with each scenario representing a work role task. Additionally, follow-up interviews were conducted to investigate if dentists were using the Internet to locate practice-related information, how the Internet was used in combination with traditional resources, and the key reasons for choosing the Internet as an information source. Although healthcare professionals have been widely studied (Verhoeven, Boema & Meyboom-deJong, 1995;Haug, 1997), little research has focused specifically on dentists. More importantly, little is know about the effect information technology and the electronic environment has had on the information behavior of dentists.The study's major findings are summarized below.1. The type of work role related task significantly influences the choice of information sources used by private practice dentists 2. Private practice dentists view the Internet as a means to access up-to-date information in a timely and convenient manner 3. The Internet is a compliment to traditional information sources, not a replacement for them 4. The study validates Leckie, Pettigrew and Sylvain's (1996) general model of professional information seeking By investigating all work roles and related tasks, a clearer picture of private practice dentists' information needs and information seeking behavior can be drawn. As indicated by Leckie et al, (1996) information needs are directly influenced by a professional's work roles and their associated tasks. The findings of this study are consistent with this assumption as dentists clearly demonstrated preferences for particular sources when confronted with specific work rolerelated tasks (See Table 1). The "patient manager/treatment provider" favored textbooks as the primary source for information while the "student" and the "educator" looked to dental associations and professional organizations. The "practice manager" sought out vendors and the "researcher" chose professional journals and colleagues equally.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects work roles (patient management/service provider, administrator/manager, researcher, educator, and student) and their associated tasks have on the choice of information sources used to meet private practice dentists' information needs. Additionally, the study investigated how the Internet has affected the information seeking of dentists. Using Leckie, Pettigrew, and Sylvain's (1996) model of the information seeking of professionals as the conceptual framework, vignette-based, in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 dentists in the metropolitan areas of Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett, Washington. Follow-up interviews were used to investigate dentists' use of the Internet. Findings revealed that the type of work role-related task significantly shapes dentists' choices of information sources; the Internet emerged as a significant information source because it provides up-to-date information in a convenient and timely manner; the Internet is a complement to traditional information sources, not a replacement for them; and the Leckie and associates (1996) general model of professional information seeking is supported by this study.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.