György Rózsa: Information: from claims to needs (Joint edition published by the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Kultura Hungarian Foreign Trading Company. Budapest, 1988)

I. The socio-professional aspects of the development of the scientific information with special regard to social sciences

SOME QUESTIONS OF EFFECTIVENESS IN INFORMATION WORK AND THE EXPERIENCE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Measuring effectiveness in information work in the field of social sciences and the humanities is extremely difficult. In this domain even the very concept of effectiveness is relative and its definition begs the question. In this context one is reminded of the logic of Marx's reasoning in the "Theory of Surplus Value". Marx claims that it is possible to define labour as to how much of it is necessary for making a table, meaning that there is a certain amount of work that is necessary for the production of a given object. This is impossible to do in the sphere of intellectual production. In this sphere the determination of the quantity of work required for achieving a result is as relative as the result itself. How does effectiveness manifest itself? For a clarification of this concept one may turn to the collection of studies edited by Professor A. I. Mikhayiov "Theoretical bases of scientific information" (Russian edition 1975.). Effectiveness manifests itself first and foremost in the profit of the area it is meant to serve. Even this is valid with qualifications only. It may occur that in a given area the information system is well-developed, yet the area the system supplies yields poor results. For instance, the system of economic information operates on a sufficient level, whereas the economy (for various reasons) tends to meet with difficulties in the supply of foodstuffs as well as in industrial production. Indeed, information by itself is unable to tackle these problems. The same applies to the international organizations. Neither the international position nor the territory of a single country may change merely by it making use of the information of international governmental or non-governmental organizations. The effectiveness of the activity of international organizations has not been substantially influenced by the level of their information work. The domain in which information is bound to be most beneficial is scientific research. It is here that effectiveness may be determined more precisely. 1. Effectiveness of information primarily manifests itself in scientific research. This reflects the positive results of the socio-economic process. How. then, could we measure — approximate it may be — the effectiveness of research work in the field of social science information? It is advisable to adopt two approaches. One is by way of interviews, the representative-demonstrative method which analyzes the users' opinion on the currently operating and the potentially feasible information systems. This may be exemplified by the following metaphorical saying: if the experienced fisherman wants to make a good catch, he will choose an alluring bait for the fish and not the one which will allure him. The other approach is to assess (in some fields) the information by advance orders, then to analyze the inquiries of subscribers to the information system. It