The use of diary and interview techniques in evaluating a system for disseminating technical information

Diary and interview techniques were employed to evaluate various aspects of a Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) System introduced in the International Business Machines Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. The test population consisted of a representative stratified sample of IBM Research employees. The design of the experiment utilized three sets of matched subjects, two as test groups and one as a control group. All three groups were asked to keep, for a specified two‐week period, a diary of all readings that were relevant to their work interests. After the diary period, all subjects were interviewed with regard to their information‐gathering habits. The two test groups were then exposed to the SDI System for approximately ten weeks, while the control group received no exposure to the system. During the last two weeks of the subjects' exposure to the SDI System, all three groups were again asked to keep diaries of pertinent readings, and then all subjects were again interviewed. In utilizing this test‐retest situation, it was anticipated that any significant changes in the reading habits or information‐gathering techniques of the subjects could be detected and perhaps consequently related to the SDI System. An evaluation of the techniques employed is discussed, and some of the findings are compared to results of other research workers in this area.