Table 4: Preference for sources of information for obtaining different types of information (N=20)
(Scores above 5 are in bold type)
Sources Political Trends Economic -
Local
Economic -
Regional
Economic -
World
Social Trends Consumer Trends
  543215432154321543215432154321
Personal Contacts4 3 1 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 4 1 2
Subordinate Managers 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 1 2
Colleagues 2 2 2 3 3 4 2 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 2 2 1 2 3 1
Company Library 3 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
Other Libraries 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 1 1 1 2 1
Govt. Publications 3 2 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 4 2 4 1 1 3 2 1 2 2 1 1
Radio / TV 2 1 5 1 2 3 3 1 2 3 4 1 1 2 1 2 1 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 4 1
Newspapers 5 4 3 1 3 7 2 1 2 7 3 1 2 5 3 4 4 1 1 5 4 1
CD–ROM Services 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2
On–line Bibliographic Databases 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2
Other On–line Databases 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2
Internet 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2
Internal Computer Printouts (Sales/Financial/Management Reports) 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 1
Sources Supplier Trends Competitor Trends Regulatory Information Use of IT Forecasts Industry/Market
  5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1
Personal Contacts 1 2 1 1 2 6 2 1 3 2 1 1 3 1 2 3 2 1 4 3 2 3 1 2 1
Subordinate Managers 1 4 3 1 5 3 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 1 4 2 1 2 3
Colleagues 2 1 6 1 3 2 3 1 1 2 4 3 1 1 5 3 2 3 2 1 3 4 1 1
Company Library 2 1 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 3 2 2 2 1 1 1
Other Libraries 1 3 1 2 2 3 3 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 2
Govt. Publications 1 2 2 3 1 1 6 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 1
Radio / TV 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1
Newspapers 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 4 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 3 1 1
CD-ROM Services 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 4 2 1 2 1 1 1 4
On-line Bibliographic Databases 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 2 1 1 2
Other On-line Databases 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2
Internet 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
Internal Computer Printouts 
(Sales/Financial/Management Reports)
1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 2 4 1 1 2 2 1 1 1
Sources Stock Market Business News Market Research Company Performance Demographic - Local Demographic - Regional New Management Methods
  5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1
Personal Contacts 1 2 4 1 1 2 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 3 4
Subordinate Managers 1 2 2 2 1 3 1 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 2
Colleagues 2 3 3 1 2 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 2 3 3 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 4 2
Company Library 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 3
Other Libraries 1 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 3 4 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2
Govt. Publications 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 1
Radio / TV 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1
Newspapers 2 1 2 1 5 4 1 3 2 1 2 2 2 3 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2
CD-ROM Services 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3
On-line Bibliographic Databases 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 3
Other On-line Databases 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 3 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 4
Internet 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Internal Computer Printouts 
(Sales / Financial / Management Reports)
2 1 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 4 3 3 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 3
Legend: 5-Very High Preference; 4-High Preference; 3-Moderate Preference; 2-Low Preference;
1-No Preference

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