Ophthalmologists Attitudes Towards Handling Situational Information Demand: A Study in India

Abstract

Background: Ophthalmologists – Eye Doctors working in academic eye hospitals confront various information demands for their services towards patient care, teaching, research, etc. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the ophthalmologists handle their situational information demands. Methodology: The study design is cross sectional and convenience sampling method is adopted. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS 18 PASW Statistical package was used for statistical analysis. Frequencies, percentages, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test were used in the study. Findings: Around 633 ophthalmologists working in 47 academic eye hospitals from 16 states of India were included in the study. The study results revealed that majority of the ophthalmologists exhibit the attitude “seek the information during situation”, followed by “I forecast such a need and gather information in advance”, “Seek the information after handling the situation” and “I will not seek for any information”. The statistical test results showed up that the ophthalmologists’ attitude towards handling situational information demand doesn’t differ by gender, age, designation, experience, and institution type. Conclusion: The study results revealed that when a situation demands information, the ophthalmologists will need a range of quality information resources within a short time span. This will be helpful to the ophthalmic librarians to understand nature of the ophthalmologist’s information demand and build the resource collection and deliver information services accordingly. The ophthalmic institutions to provide appropriate infrastructure and facilities and equip the libraries to deliver efficient information services.

Keywords: Information Demand, Ophthalmologists, Information Behavior, Information Need, Information-Seeking Behavior

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