  Access to previous results is of paramount importance in the scientific
process. Recent progress in information management focuses on building
e-infrastructures for the optimization of the research workflow, through both
policy-driven and user-pulled dynamics. For decades, High-Energy Physics (HEP)
has pioneered innovative solutions in the field of information management and
dissemination. In light of a transforming information environment, it is
important to assess the current usage of information resources by researchers
and HEP provides a unique test-bed for this assessment. A survey of about 10%
of practitioners in the field reveals usage trends and information needs.
Community-based services, such as the pioneering arXiv and SPIRES systems,
largely answer the need of the scientists, with a limited but increasing
fraction of younger users relying on Google. Commercial services offered by
publishers or database vendors are essentially unused in the field. The survey
offers an insight into the most important features that users require to
optimize their research workflow. These results inform the future evolution of
information management in HEP and, as these researchers are traditionally
``early adopters'' of innovation in scholarly communication, can inspire
developments of disciplinary repositories serving other communities.
