Public Managers and Scientific and Technical Information

摘要

Despite a tremendous influx of information into public agencies, and a concern with information processing models of organizations, there is a special variety of information that is often poorly utilized or under-utilized -- scientific and technical information (STI). This study of public managers' orientations toward STI, a study based on data gathered from questionnaires mailed to officials of the Canadian government's Environmental Protection Service, seeks to better understand patterns of STI acquisition and sharing and information channel preferences among users of STI. It was hypothesized that three clusters of variables would have predictive value in respect to channel preference and 'gatekeeping': Job Perceptions, Administrative Role, Professionalism. The chief findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Preference for formal channels is associated with a low opinion of co-workers, increased age (independent of administrative responsibility) and high perceived utility for STI; (2) Preference for informal channels outside the organization is associated with membership in professional organizations; (3) Gatekeeping is associated with a low opinion of co-workers, doctoral-level degree, high attendance at professional meetings, and specialization. The implications of the findings for designing scientific and technical information systems are discussed. (Author)