Research Priorities in Social Welfare Library and Information Work

Abstract

A questionnaire listing possible research projects in the field of social welfare information work was sent to 8 1 individuals representing practitioners in the field as well as librarians and information workers. The results were used to provide background information for participants in a Forum funded by the British Library Research and Development Depart ment and revealed some significant differences between priority judgements of practitioners and those of librarians and information workers. The technique employed can be regarded as a modification of the 'Delphi' technique and it is suggested that bringing respondents to the questionnaire together for the second 'round' of the investigation may have specific advantages in increasing mutual understanding among different interest-groups.