Information needs and the role of text mining in drug development.

Drug development generates information needs from groups throughout a company. Knowing where to look for high-quality information is essential for minimizing costs and remaining competitive. Using 1131 research requests that came to our library between 2001 and 2007, we show that drugs, diseases, and genes/proteins are the most frequently searched subjects, and journal articles, patents, and competitive intelligence literature are the most frequently consulted textual resources.