Information Science in the Education of Social Work Students

Information science stands as a bridge between the practitioner facing clients in a day-to-day world and the mountain of relevant and not-so-relevant information that the social sciences have accumulated. This paper reports one school's attempts to encourage effective utilization of scientific knowledge through experimentation with (1) a computer-based retrieval system, (2) a specialized library of information tools that permits precise retrieval of current materials, and (3) an educational program that stresses the importance of having the best available knowledge as a guide to practice, and provides training in obtaining it.