European information users: Topics from a comparative analysis within the European Union

摘要

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to present some results from research undertaken into therninformation behaviour of European Documentation Centre (EDC) users. It will reflect on the practicesrnof a group of 234 users of 55 EDCs covering 21 Member States of the European Union (EU), used tornaccess European information.rnDesign/methodology/approach - In order to collect the data presented here, five questionnairesrnwere sent to users in all the EDCs in Finland, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal. In the remaining EUrncountries, five questionnaires were sent to two EDCs chosen at random. The questionnaires were sentrnby post, following telephone contact with the EDC managers.rnFindings - Factors determining access to information on the European Union and the frequency ofrnthis access are identified. The information providers most commonly used to access Europeanrninformation and the information sources considered the most reliable by respondents were alsornanalysed. Another area of analysis concerns the factors cited by respondents as facilitating access torninformation on Europe or, conversely, making it more difficult to access. Parallel with this, the aspectsrnof accessing information on EU that are valued most by users will also be assessed.rnResearch limitations/implications - Questionnaires had to be used, as the intention was to coverrna very extensive geographical area. However, in opting for closed questions, it is acknowledged thatrnstandard responses have been obtained with no scope for capturing the individual circumstances ofrneach respondent, thus making a qualitative approach difficult.rnOriginality/value - This is the first piece of academic research into the EDCs and their users, whichrnaimed to cover all Member States of the EU.