Authors' motivations for citing documents are addressed through a literature review and an empirical study. Replicating an investigation in psychology, the works of two highly‐cited authors in the discipline of communication were identified, and all of the authors who cited them during the period 1995–1997 were surveyed. The instrument posed 32 questions about why a certain document was cited, plus questions about the citer's relationship to the cited author and document. Most findings were similar to the psychology study, including a tendency to cite “concept markers” representing a genre of work. Authors in communication were more likely to have an interpersonal connection to cited authors, and to cite literature reviews—their most common reason for citation. Three types of judgments about cited works were found to best predict citation: (1) that the work was novel, well‐known, and a concept‐marker; (2) that citing it might promote the authority of one's own work; and (3) that the work deserved criticism. Suggestions are made for further research, especially regarding the anomalous role of creativity in cited works.

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A detailed study suggests that, contrary to popular belief, people do not necessarily attribute greater benefits to using computer-based messaging as they gain experience; in addition, they tend to prefer diflerent media depending upon the task, their organizational status, attributes of the medium, and their own personalities.Local telecommunications networks, which can connect individuals within communities of any size, configuration, and purpose, are being used increasingly for the exchange of messages. The Advanced Research Projects Agency network (ARPANET), for example, was established so that government-funded researchers could have access to host computers at other locations, but instead was used predominantly for the exchange of messages among the researchers (17).Many organizations have adopted computer-based communication systems to facilitate their internal communication. The popular names for such systems range from "electronic mail" to "computer conferencing" to "office automation"

The diffusion of the Internet has radically expanded the readily available sources for information of all types. Information that was once obtained second-hand from friends and acquaintances-the traditional "two-step flow"-is now found easily through the Internet. The authors make use of survey data to explore this thesis in regards to information sources about genetic testing and the influence of the Internet on the information seeking behaviors of the public. A telephone survey of a random sample of 882 adults asked them about their knowledge of, concerns about, and interest in genetic testing. Respondents were most likely to first turn to the Internet for information about cancer genetics, second to public libraries, and third to medical doctors. Overall, doctors were the most likely source to be consulted when second and third choices are considered. Age, income, and self-reported understanding of genetics are shown to be predictors of whether someone goes to medical professionals for advice, rather than to the Internet or public library. The results raise questions about the apparent tendency of the public to regard the Internet as the best source of information on complex topics like genetics, for which it may be ill-suited.

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