Research activities on informal communication among research workers in Japan

Abstract

Study on informal communication among scientists is a new field of research interest to librarians and information scientists in Japan, though the important role played by oral communication in scientific and technical information activities has been introduced to them for some time through original and even translated reports of studies in the field. Recently, stimulated by Crawford's research on informal communication among sleep scientists and by Korfhage's study based on Crawford's report, several studies on this subject of “informal communication among scientist” have been conducted by some students of Keio University School of Library and Information Science. The present paper introduces the results of these studies and analyses the discrepancy from the results of previous American studies. Exchange of preprints is not so commonly used among Japanese scientists. Instead, to attend many committee meetings of various departments of government ministries (and of other public organizations) and to be acquainted with other very selected scientists seems to be one of the major information sources for leading scientists. Existence of a peculiar situation of some of Japanese researchers who are maintaining closer relationship with their colleagues in foreign countries than with their domestic ones is also pointed out.