ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. It builds on ideas to address the issues of scientific and technical information (STI) “product” planning. Thinking of STI as a product that must be designed, developed, packaged, and promoted on the basis of identified user needs is an innovative concept. The part identifies, in the form of guidelines, various practices that are generally present when there is effective use made of marketing information. A central theme among the various guidelines is that the producer and user of research—the information product—interact and understand each other’s needs, abilities, and constraints. The development of information products requires a user orientation on the part of the information producer and a producer orientation on the part of the information user. It is suggested that the design of both information development and transfer systems or services should incorporate many of these guidelines.
