Abstract
Highlights the major trends in information needs and use in a
survey of the literature from the later 1940s to the present time. The
shortcomings of early studies, particularly questionnaire surveys, are
found to be defective methodology and shallow conceptualization. More
sophisticated and refined techniques were introduced in the mid 1960s
leading to more empirical research and to the study of informal
transmission systems. The 1970s still revealed a need for greater
conceptualization. New paradigms and approaches emerged in the 1980s
leading to considerations of the environment in which information is
used and distinctions between the cognitive and social aspects of
information.
Subject
Library and Information Sciences