摘要:Objective : There have been few studies of physicians' information needs in Japan. In 2000, Yamaguchi and his colleagues investigated information needs for about 1000, general practitioners and directors of general hospitals, other than university hospitals, throughout Japan. In the present study, we investigated the information needs of directors of university hospitals to supplement the previous study. Methods : We studied the information needs of all directors of university hospitals in Japan. A questionnaire was sent to all 78 university hospitals in Japan with a self-addressed envelope. Most questions were identical to those used in the previous investigation. Results : The response rate was 44.0%. The questionnaire showed that half of the respondents spent 1 to 2 hours per day searching for medical information, and that 100% obtained the information from academic journals. About 80% of respondents had used the library of their own university, and 80% used the information resources on their university's computer network. More than 90% of respondents were satisfied with the present situation. Conclusions : In this survey, different information needs and behaviors were identified, as in the study of 2000. Continued research will aid information professionals in characterizing and determining the information needs and behaviors of clinicians in Japan.