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Personal information acquisition by health professionals in Brazilian and British hospitals: a comparative study

Department of Information and Library Studies at the University of Ceara in Brazil

A. J. Meadows

Information Studies at Loughborough University, A.J.Meadows{at}lboro.ac.uk

Reports results of a joint questionnaire and interview survey to determine the ways in which four groups of health professionals (consultants, junior medical staff, nurses and administrators) working in three hospitals in Brazil and three hospitals in the UK, use libraries and information resources. Patterns found in the two countries were compared. The investigation was carried out in two stages. The first stage examined the role of the library and the second looked at information activities that did not involve the library. Concludes that the information activities of health professionals in Brazil and the UK follow a generally similar pattern which, in overall terms, fits the general picture gained from previous studies. However, UK health professionals clearly have better access to publications (particularly periodicals) than their Brazilian counterparts, due to the latter’s problem of acquiring foreign publications, the language barrier, poorer access to electronic information resources and greater difficulty in attending conferences. Recommends that teaching hospitals in Brazil should make greater use of electronic communication and act as a focus for the information needs of non-teaching hospitals.

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