Information seeking patterns and telecentre operations: a case of selected rural communities in Tanzania.
Date
2011
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Information needs assessment is critical in developing
and running relevant information services. This
article explores the information needs and information-
seeking patterns of the people living in communities
surrounding telecentres. The research was
based in four rural districts in Tanzania which have
telecentres. These were Sengerema, Magu, Karagwe
and Ngara districts. The research was done utilising
the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) to determine
how people or communities seek information concerning
problem-solving, decision-making or question-
answering situations. CIT was also used to determine
the extent to which ICTs were used in
seeking information. It was found that business and
agricultural related information were the main information
needs of the people in the communities
involved in this study, however this information was
rarely provided by the telecentres. The study further
found out that face-to-face communication and the
radio were the major sources of information that the
respondents used. This study recommends that management
of the telecentres should regularly assess
user information needs in order for telecentres to
have an impact on rural communities.