[Do public health practitioners have satisfactory access to important information sources?].

We asked Norwegian public health practitioners which information sources they used as support for their professional medical counselling, how they gathered their information, and how they evaluated the validity of the information. 348 (67%) questionnaires were returned. Legal sources, other types of reference books/textbooks, different types of expertise from other institutions, and colleagues were considered the most important information sources. The majority had difficulties accessing libraries. Bibliographic databases were used very little. 30% often had problems finding relevant information, while 56% had problems occasionally. Many respondents felt that it was too difficult to get hold of information, that it was difficult to know where to search and that it was difficult to find the time to do it. In judging the scientific validity of an article the majority compared the content with their own experience. Relevant scientifically based medical information was seldom obtained and utilized. Public health practitioners were surprisingly homogeneous in their description of their handling of information. We found for instance almost no differences between specialists and non-specialists. The survey shows that public health practitioners do not have satisfactory access to potentially important information sources. The type of barriers many of them meet when searching for information, indicates that public health physicians would benefit from tailored information services.