Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2007 Jun;24(2):78-94.
doi: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2007.00713.x.

The information-seeking behaviour of doctors: a review of the evidence

Karen Davies  1 , Janet Harrison
Affiliations
Free article
Review

The information-seeking behaviour of doctors: a review of the evidence

Karen Davies et al. Health Info Libr J. 2007 Jun.
Free article

Erratum in

  • Health Info Libr J. 2010 Dec;27(4):341. Harrison, Janet [added]

Abstract

This paper provides a narrative review of the available literature from the past 10 years (1996-2006) that focus on the information seeking behaviour of doctors. The review considers the literature in three sub-themes: Theme 1, the Information Needs of Doctors includes information need, frequency of doctors' questions and types of information needs; Theme 2, Information Seeking by Doctors embraces pattern of information resource use, time spent searching, barriers to information searching and information searching skills; Theme 3, Information Sources Utilized by Doctors comprises the number of sources utilized, comparison of information sources consulted, computer usage, ranking of information resources, printed resource use, personal digital assistant (PDA) use, electronic database use and the Internet. The review is wide ranging. It would seem that the traditional methods of face-to-face communication and use of hard-copy evidence still prevail amongst qualified medical staff in the clinical setting. The use of new technologies embracing the new digital age in information provision may influence this in the future. However, for now, it would seem that there is still research to be undertaken to uncover the most effective methods of encouraging clinicians to use the best evidence in everyday practice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources