This article examines farmers’ preferences for various risk management information sources. Our results suggest that information from risk management experts, in-depth materials studied on their own, and popular press outlets tend to be preferred and are ranked highly by producers. Using a regression model to investigate farmer/farm attributes that affect preference for a particular risk management information source, we find that younger farmers with college education, higher leverage, assets greater than $1 million, risk-loving attitudes, and who have used professional services (marketing consultants) tend to prefer information from risk management experts, the Internet, and marketing clubs/other producers. On the other hand, producers who prefer self-study of educational materials and popular press information sources tend to be younger, with lower leverage levels, and have used fewer professional services.

Farm producers attempt to mitigate risk and uncertainty by utilizing accurate and reliable information. This research attempts to identify sources of information used by Ohio fruit producers and then determine which of these sources are best meeting their information needs. Results are based on a logit analysis of Ohio fruit producers and several factors are shown to influence producers' evaluation of the “adequacy” of their marketing information. Among these factors are age, business size, education, type of enterprise, and types of information sources. Reported findings have implications for marketing efficiency, particularly if producers' evaluation of infonnation as adequate is positively related to its efficient use.

Extant research on sources of information about interventions used by parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has provided a general overview of sources used. However, it has provided little insight into why parents view certain sources as reliable or trustworthy, or how useful parents found the information provided to them by the sources and why. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 12 Australian parents of preschool-age children with ASD. Participants discussed the factors related to their perceptions of the reliability and trustworthiness of sources used, as well as the usefulness of the information provided. Parent ratings of the reliability of sources were influenced by factors including the firsthand experience of other parents, the parent's relationship with the source, and their beliefs about the sources’ intentions. A number of parents reported that sources provided either information of limited use or an overwhelming amount of information. Considerable variation was reported in the usefulness of information provided to parents. Recommendations regarding research and practice are offered.

Hedging is one of the most important risk management decisions that farmers make and has a potentially large role in the level of profit eventually earned from farming. Using panel data from a survey of Georgia farmers that recorded their hedging decisions for 4 years on four crops, we examine the role of habit, demographics, farm characteristics, and information sources on the hedging decisions made by 57 different farmers. We find that the role of habit varies widely and that estimation of a single habit effect suffers from aggregation bias. Thus, modeling farmer-level heterogeneity in the examination of habit and hedging is crucial.

In this article Margarethe Sannino shares some information on how legal research works in an international law firm with several offices. The focus is on German law and legal materials. A short introduction to German law is followed by an outline of German research resources in general and then, further on, there are two parts describing specific approaches to research from Margarethe's daily work; research on company/corporate law requests as well as research on legislative acts.

This article by John Furlong is an updated and revised version of an article originally authored by John Furlong and Susan Doe and published in Legal Information Management 2006, 6(2) Summer 2006 and covers in some detail the basic sources for researching European Union law. It also gives some background on the growth of the European Union and its law making.

The objectives of the feasibility study were to evaluate sources of information for an eventual Danish system for early identification and assessment of emerging health technology, to identify potential users of the system, and to clarify their specific need for information concerning emerging health technology. The methods used were questionnaires to informants within and outside the health services and to decision makers on different levels in the health services, and follow-up telephone interviews. Our study reveals a strong, and to some extent unsatisfied, need among policy makers, planners, and managers in the Danish health services for information concerning emerging health technology. The requested information should in particular concern indication for use, number of patients affected, clinical effectiveness and side effects, running cost, and investments. The time horizon most relevant to the decision makers seems to be only zero to 2 years. Furthermore, we found that numerous sources are available that frequently display information on emerging technology important to the health services. The challenges seem to be to select information of sufficient importance and quality, and to combine information, since very few, if any, single primary sources cover all the requested information. In conclusion, we recommend the establishment of a Danish national system for early identification and assessment of emerging health technology, consisting of a small secretariat that collaborates nationally and internationally, the latter in particular on identification of technology and on development of methods for early assessment.

This article by Janice Clarke of Holman Fenwick Willan covers the basic materials required for a shipping law library (both hard copy and online) and then addresses how to answer some of the queries most frequently received by the shipping law librarian. The emphasis is on specialised sources.

Hilary Smith describes the work of Kennedys, an international law firm specialising in insurance litigation, and the information sources its lawyers rely on. Written with a view, firstly, to provide guidance to legal information professionals who may be unfamiliar with insurance materials and, secondly, to generate interest amongst the legal information profession about the work of insurance litigation firms. Included are explanations of different types of insurance and common terminology used by insurance litigation lawyers.

Research has shown that agricultural professionals are one of the major influences on farmer adoption of agricultural innovations. Genetic engineering and organic farming represent two vastly different innovations in agriculture, and both assert to have important sustainability outcomes. This paper presents the views from a telephone survey of agricultural scientists, extension officers and academics in Australia (n=185) on the barriers to further adoption of organic farming and agricultural genetic engineering, as well as exploring where they obtain their information about the two innovations. Many professionals believe that market issues (in terms of small market size and the extent that consumers are willing to pay premiums) will limit the size of farmer adoption of organics in Australia, while on-farm issues (in terms of production difficulties and pest and disease problems) are named as the second largest barrier to further adoption. On the other hand, professionals from the targeted sample, who were more knowledgeable about organic farming, named information needs and lack of government support as the major barrier facing further diffusion of organic farming. In contrast, public attitudes and negative media portrayal are named as the largest barrier facing further adoption of genetic engineering in Australia. The uncertainty surrounding the research into genetic engineering (and the lack of long-term research) is believed to be the second largest barrier facing further diffusion of genetic engineering while market problems are seen as the third largest barrier.

A mail survey of Iowa farmers with membership in the Practical Farmers of Iowa, a sustainable agriculture organization, was used to examine perceptions of institutional support for information on reducing chemical inputs, needed research for farming with sustainable practices, and policy needs for encouraging farmers to adopt sustainable practices. We first developed a chemical input index to measure commitment to sustainable practices and to analyze information sources and research and policy needs. Results indicate that sustainable farmers rely primarily on each other and on their personal experience for information about sustainable practices; they use conventional farm practice information sources considerably less. The primary research need identified by the respondents was for better nonchemical weed control. Other important research needs identified were: nonchemical insect control, new seed varieties, cover crops, alternative tillage methods, and the economics of sustainable systems. The primary policy needs identified were more information and educational programs about sustainable agriculture and increased taxes on farm chemical use. We discuss the implications of the relationship between institutional support and the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices.

The primary objectives of this study were to describe the various pest control and soil fertility management strategies used by North Carolina farmers and to characterize the types of farms and farmers using each strategy. In 1988, a survey was mailed to farmers who had shown interest in alternative methods and a randomly selected control group of conventional farmers. Cluster analysis on crops, inputs, and cultural practices used by crop farmers in the combined sample showed that they fall into three distinct groups. Very few members of the first group apply standard synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Instead, more than three-quarters of them use cover crops, compost, organic mulch, commercial fertilizers and pesticides labeled as “organic”, resistant varieties, hand weeding, mechanical cultivation, scouting, and biological pest controls. More than half of the second group did not use any nutrient and pest management inputs or practices except synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and lime. More than three-quarters of the third group reported use of synthetic fertilizers, synthetic herbicides, and lime, but also employed most of the cultural practices reported by alternative farmers. However, they less frequently used labor-intensive practices (such as manuring, mechanical cultivation, and hand weeding) and information-intensive practices (such as scouting and companion planting). Information sources, concerns about farm chemicals, and length of farming experience discriminated better than other socioeconomic factors and farm characteristics between farmers who use conventional chemical inputs and those who use alternative practices. Group 1 farmers differed from Group 3 farmers most sharply in that they rank the cost of pest control products and their extension agents' advice lower, have lower farm incomes, read more information sources promoting reduced synthetic chemicals, own more of the land they operate, and have less farming experience. The only factors significantly discriminating Groups 1 and 2 were that Group 1 fanners rank the importance of their extension agents' recommendations lower and effects of chemical products on birds and wildlife higher, read more reduced-chemical information sources, and have less farming experience.