Information Brokers Research Articles

Locating Rehabilitation Product Information Through ABLEDATA

The ABLEDATA System, a program of the National Rehabilitation Information Center, is a computerized listing of commercially available aids and equipment for disabled persons. Anyone can obtain information from ABLEDATA by calling (202)635-6090 or writing to 4407 Eighth St., NE, Washington, DC 20017. The following article outlines the development and organization of ABLEDATA and includes an expansion of the Information Broker Network. It describes the information available from ABLEDATA and illustrates a typical product search. It also discusses the use of the system by occupational therapists. Costs involved with using the system are discussed in the article.

Health information brokers

Health information brokers

Financial aspects of information brokerage in Europe

A study of the financial aspects of information brokerage in a European setting was made. Factors that influence the income and the expenditure of the broker are discussed in detail. The average costs of an online literature search under various conditions are presented in tabular form. Conditions under which a European information broker might be financially independent are indicated.

Information-Communication

Charles K. West, The Social and Psychological Distortion of Information (Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers, 1981---$17.95/8.95) Martha Boaz, ed. Strategies for Meeting the Information Needs of Society in the Year 2000 (Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1981---$22.50/$27.00 outside of the U.S.) Kelly Warnken, The Information Brokers: How to Start and Operate Your Own Fee-Based Service (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1981---$24.95) Information Industry Market Place 1982 (New York: Bowker, 1981--- 337.50, paper) Robert Atwan, Barry Orton, and William Vesterman, eds. American Mass Media Industries and Issues (New York: Random House, 1982---price not given, paper)

欧米の直接応答情報サービスと情報仲介サービス IV－情報サービス活動の業態変化－

欧州, 米国, 日本の情報提供サービス業の (1)類似性, (2)連関性, (3)波及性, (4)連携性, (5)宿命克服手段具現性, (6)成長性を考えてみると, 日本におけるこの産業形態の位置づけや, 移り変わる様々な要請に対処する業態や業種構造の変化の方向や, 適切な方途をはっきりさせるための示唆に富んでいることを指摘した。

欧米の直接応答情報サービスと情報仲介サービス III－情報サービス活動の業態変化－

欧州とは違って, 図書館の司書や企業の情報担当者が, 離職, 変身, 業態変容して, 群生乱立, 幾多の問題点をかかえながらも, 急成長してサービスの構造革新を迫っている米国の情報仲介業の現状, 今後の動向, 波及効果を明確にした。

欧米の直接応答情報サービスと情報仲介サービス II－情報サービス活動の業態変化－

欧米の直接応答情報サービスと情報仲介サービス II－情報サービス活動の業態変化－

欧米の直接応答情報サービスと情報仲介サービス I－情報サービス活動の業態変化－

情報源と利用者の中間にあって, 境界領域を埋めるサービスを提供し, 対価を請求する欧米の事業活動の実態と関連を解明する第一歩として, 欧州の一般情報源とサービスを展望し, 依頼に応じて行う一般および専門のサービス提供事業の存在を確認した。

Information for industry—the role of the information broker

My purpose is to draw the attention of the information profession to the fact that the majority of British companies have totally inadequate access to information, to outline the role information brokers can play in alleviating the situation, and to stimulate discussion. In view of the overall theme of the conference, the economics of information, it is probably time that due attention was paid to the problems of what is almost an information ‘third world’, because of the possible adverse effect on the economy of the United Kingdom if it continues to go unnoticed. The size of the problem is substantial; on the British industrial scene, the professional information population is dwarfed by the actual number of companies.

Information For Fee and Information For Free

Information Brokering has grown in response to the enormous proliferation of available information and to the needs of segments of the population requiring complete and accurate information. The need is so overwhelming, the clients so diverse, and the constraints on libraries and librarians so great, that there is ample room for both the public librarian and the fee-based information service to operate together.

The Library as an Information Broker

The Library as an Information Broker

An Information Broker as a member of a Health Service Planning Unit

A health service strategic planning division had difficulty obtaining information needed to support health care improvement projects, despite the availability of library and data systems. The post of ‘information broker’ was devised and set up as a two‐year experimental project under a special grant; the broker working as a member of the planning team and charged with relating to existing information services and promoting information flows. The workload fell into two main categories: information support to specific planning projects, and information support in general to the planning team, the latter category comprising a current awareness service and the development of structures to provide communication. The broker's services were less effective in the area originally defined by the planners as of their greatest need and more effective in areas where information gaps had not been specially noted. The original concept is now being reshaped.

Some comments on the Information Broker and the Technological Gatekeeper

Some librarians and information workers would suggest that although the name information broker is new, the services provided by the broker are no different from those they provide themselves. However, it has also been suggested that since the broker is a full‐time member of the user group she serves, taking part in its normal assignments and playing an important role in promoting the communication of information, her role has more in common with that of the technological gatekeeper. The relationship between the broker's role and other information‐handling roles is one of the issues Aslib R & D Department has considered during its 2‐year assessment of the post, and some findings of general interest are discussed in this paper. Since the broker's post was established by the users themselves, their reactions to the broker are of particular interest and are considered. Brief attention is also given to the problems the broker faces in balancing her information activities against her other duties.