COMMUNICATION IN PHYSICS: REVIEW AND FIRST PARAMETERS

Abstract

The Institute of Physics is carrying out a project, funded by the British Library, to review information in physics. The approach concentrates on the gathering of quantitative data, and the article presents a first overview of some aspects of the communication system of physics of relevance to documentation. From an overall annual UK R&D budget of £1,000 million, we estimate that about £150 million is allocable to physics, including some three‐quarters of the SRC's budget. Although definition is difficult, we estimate the manpower in physics to be something over 10,000. We briefly consider the involvement of physicists in the documentary part of information flow. Firstly, as producers, or authors, a small study suggests that most members of the Institute do not write papers. Conferences are a major communication channel, but it is likely that out of more than 300 conferences of relevance to physicists held in 1973 in the UK, only fifty will produce specific proceedings. Lastly, past user studies indicate that many physicists carry out their work with little direct, daily use of libraries and information services, although these are obviously an important factor in such research. More ‘non‐user’, ‘non‐author’ etc studies are desirable. The money spent on these services we estimate at around £3 million annually, or 2% of the research budget. These first findings lead to two main conclusions: (i) the cost of library and information services is a negligible proportion of the overall physics budget, and no substantial economies can be made by cuts in them and (ii) documentation may well not play the major role in the communication system. It is only by examining the system as a whole that we can determine the relative importance of each mode of communication and the present and likely future place of documentation.

Citation

SINGLETON, A.K.J. (1975), "COMMUNICATION IN PHYSICS: REVIEW AND FIRST PARAMETERS", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 137-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026597