Meeting the Information Needs of Battered Women: Responsibilities and Roles for Library and Information Science

Wife assault is an important social problem that needs to be addressed by librarians and library and information science (LIS) researchers concerned with the way in which battered women search for information. This paper reports on two studies in which the social service network is viewed as a type of information system and which question the effectiveness of community responses to the information needs of battered women. The results of these studies suggest several ways in which LIS professionals can better assist three client groups: individual battered women, social service providers, and public policy or decision makers.