Why Can’t It All Be On the Web?: The Information Needs of Biomedical Informatics Scientists

by Vaidhyanathan, V.

Bioinformatics researchers are a relatively new breed of scientist, emerging from many disciplines. In order for libraries to meet the needs of these researchers, a clear assessment of how they use the library and how they would like to use it is essential. Through in-person interviews with graduate students, post-doctoral students, researchers and medical doctors, this study examines bioinformatics researchers’ use of the library and what would constitute their ideal library. It asks them how they currently use the library, and how they would change the library to better serve their research needs. The findings reveal that most of the researchers want more access to online sources and they want an easier way to access these sources than is currently provided. It is recommended that further studies concentrate on how libraries can publicize their current resources to target the bioinformatics research population.