Library is a collection of documents for use. User occupies the central place, and every library operation is directed to serve him better. It is important to study user’s information needs, information collecting behaviour, and his information use patterns. Equally important is to study the nature of literature through which the information is communicated. Here lies the significance of this book. In the age of knowledge explosion, the process of selecting the appropriate and relevant literature becomes both critical and difficult. The scientists have been complaining of their inability to "keep up with the literature." Historically, they have tried to solve this problem by narrowing their fields of interest; and by being more selective in what they read, paying attention only to those sources which are most productive and give uptodate, worthwhile, and reliable information. And this demands a careful and serious investigation to find out what should be read, assimilated, and used for conducting quality research in sciences. In view of the enormous size of literature in various physical forms, and its steady growth, the present-day working librarian faces serious managerial problems in the development of collection, particularly because of shrinking budgets, escalating prices, and world-wide inflation. These problems notwithstanding, the present and future information needs of the users are to be met. It is not possible for any library to acquire all the published documents. The librarian, therefore, needs to apply a systematic means of objectivity in selecting what is needed. For a need-based and balanced collection development programme, it becomes imperative to make a survey of the exact requirement of its users either through direct or indirect methods. In this context too the present book is invaluable as it endeavours to study the information use pattern of the researchers in biosciences.
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