Scientific Communication and Information Seeking Behavior of Life Scientists in the Academia Sinica, Taiwan

The purpose of this study is to investigate the scientific communication and information seeking behavior of the life scientists at Academia Scinica, and also their perceptions of future information needs. Besides literature review, this exploratory study integrating qualitative and quantitative research methods uses questionnaire and in-depth interview to investigate this elite scientific community. The results show that there are significant relationships between information exchange behaviors and variables such as academic rank, age and specialization. Most participants project that browsing, print format, peer review, face to face communication and professional meetings still will be important in the future. Finally, this paper suggests a model of scientific communication and information seeking to emphasize that life scientists produce information and also use information via formal and informal channels.