INFORMATION USE AND NEEDS OF SCIENTISTS AND SCHOLARS IN NUCLEAR ENERGY AND RADIATION AT THE OFFICE OF ATOMS FOR PEACE

Abstract

The objectives of this research are (1) to study information use and need of scientists and scholars in nuclear energy and radiation at the Office of Atoms for Peace; (2) to compare the information use and needs of scientists and scholars in nuclear energy and radiation at the Office of Atoms for Peace; (3) to study the problems in using information of scientists and scholars in nuclear energy and radiation at the Office of Atoms for Peace.

This research was a survey and qualitative study and the population were 263 scientists and scholars in nuclear energy and radiation at the Office of Atoms for Peace. Stratified random sampling was used in the sampling of 186 scientists and scholars. The tools used in data collection were a questionnaire and interview. The Statistics used in data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, One-way analysis of variance, comparison by Scheffe’s test and content analysis.

The research findings were summarized as follows: (1) Information use and needs by scientists and scholars in nuclear energy and radiation at the Office at Atoms for Peace were at the moderate level, when classified each aspect found that the use of Journal of Nuclear Science Review was highest at the high level, followed by the Operation Manual of Nuclear Energy and Radiation Manual. Information needs about safety from nuclear energy and radiation by scientists and scholars in nuclear energy and radiation at the Office at Atoms for Peace were also at a high level. (2) Comparing information use and needs by scientists and scholars in nuclear energy and radiation at the Office at Atoms for Peace found no statistical significance in educational level, when comparing information needs was found statistical significance .05 and (3) The problems in using information overall were in the moderate level such as inconvenience of outside information sources, inadequate computers and library resources did not meet the requirements.