The CAB World Agricultural Information Service

Coming into the information world with a background of scientific research, it is very easy to become confused not only by the jargon of information science but also by the seeming complexity of the information business. My reaction has been to apply the same guiding principle to the information business as I did to my field research, namely to search for the underlying pattern in the belief that the simplest explanation of natural phenomena is probably the right one. This approach has enabled me to take a fresh look at the fundamental purposes of the business in which this meeting is involved. The result may appear to be a statement of the obvious, but I make no apology for this; it is very often the obvious that is overlooked and can bear repeating.