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Focuses on the information needs of users that are changing as a result of changes in the availability of information content in electronic form. In the course of the discussion, the paper first highlights the trend and nature of the physical form in which information content is currently being made available for users’ access and use in electronic information environments. It then attempts to determine why the prevailing information needs of users are coming into being and how they are shaped in electronic information environments. Finally, makes suggestions regarding how to go about identifying and meeting the prevailing needs in electronic information.

The purpose of this study is to investigate librarians' level of responsiveness in an era of policy change and reform.

The approach adopted was to introduce and describe the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) as a major policy framework in Nigeria. A purposive sampling approach was used to survey librarians' familiarity and knowledge of the NEEDS concept. In all 54 questionnaires were distributed and 36 were returned. Descriptive statistics were used to generate data for discussion.

Majority of the respondents did not understand fully the NEEDS concept; were not familiar with the NEEDS document, institutional and macroeconomic frameworks, NEEDS vision, values and principles. Less numbers were very correct or correct as to whether their libraries had a copy of the NEEDS document. Many of the librarians had neither seem or read the document; less than 50 per cent of the respondents knew where to obtain the NEEDS document; knew that the NEEDS document can be accessed online and downloaded from the web. Majority did not know that the NEEDS secretariat is located at the National Planning Commission.; confessed that they can not answer reference question on NEEDS. Only five indicated that they responded to the invitation for comments and suggestions during the formulation of the NEEDS document.

It is critical for the Nigerian Library Association to heighten its information advocacy role in an environment of change and reform. Librarians must be proactive in an environment of change and reforms.

A fundamental study that challenges librarians to relate to the change and reforms occurring in the organizational, transactional and contextual environments of their work.

The aim of this study was to address the unmet information needs of Malawian informal carers. We report on a three-year project which we co-created with informal carers, medical doctors and NGOs with the view to disseminate health advisory messages.

This study was developed on the principles of co-production. The impact of our health advisory messaging approach was assessed through observations and questionnaire-based surveys for quality, clarity and usefulness.

The messages were disseminated beyond the local support groups and reached a much wider community via word of mouth. The messages also led to short and medium term benefits for informal carers and their loved ones.

Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the contextual conditions of informal caring and that of co-producing interventions with the people these aim to benefit.

This study aims to investigate how the public formed their need for information in the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. Exploring the formation of information needs can reveal why the public's information needs differ and provide insights on targeted information service during health crises at an essential level.

The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 46 participants and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Concepts, sub-categories and categories were developed, and a model was built to examine how the public formed the need for information about the pandemic.

The authors found that participants were stimulated by information asymmetry, severity of the pandemic and regulations to control the pandemic, which triggered their perceptions of information credibility, threat and social approval. After the participants perceived that there was a threat, it activated their basic needs and they actively formed the need for information based on cognitive activities. Moreover, information delivered by different senders resulted in a passive need for information. Participants' individual traits also influenced their perceptions after being stimulated.

Long-term follow-up research is needed to help researchers identify more detailed perspectives and do comparative studies. Besides, this study conducted interviews through WeChat voice calls and telephone calls, and might be limited compared with face-to-face interviews.

The findings of this study provide theoretical contributions to the information needs research and practical implications for information services and public health management.

There is little systematic research on how the public formed information needs in the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The purpose of this study is to explore the information needs and behaviors of Chinese first-time mothers from the perspective of information journey theory.

This study uses the popular coding language Python to write a program to extract 366 posts published by first-time mothers in the Babytree community of China's largest maternal and infant platform. Content analysis is used to analyze and encode the collected data.

This study summarizes the information needs of first-time mothers in China specifically, which includes six aspects of health, pregnancy care, postpartum parenting, socialization, self-actualization, and entertainment. Then, based on its hierarchical and stage characteristics, more flexible information needs matrix for Chinese first-time mothers has been developed to reflect their changing 15 types of information needs more fully. Finally, it constructs the information journey model of Chinese first-time mothers including five stages.

This is the first time that information journey theory has been applied to the research on information needs and behaviors of first-time mothers. The authors have also further expanded the information seeking and acquisition phases and found new gaps in the phases to further refine the information journey model. This study can help us better understand the online information needs and behaviors of Chinese first-time mothers and provide support for organizations and online health community managers to develop new information services or improve the quality of existing services.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2021-0538.

This research aims to explore the nature of Chinese students' mental health information needs and to identify the online resources they use to meet those needs.

Data was collected from three Chinese research-oriented universities using semi-structured interviews and a survey. Twenty-five university students with varied backgrounds were selected for semi-structured interviews to explore the triggers and nature of their needs. Then, printed and online questionnaires were distributed to undergraduate and postgraduate students and 541 valid responses were processed for descriptive statistical analysis and variance analysis.

The following findings were incurred. First, the triggers of university students' mental health information needs mainly are mental health being in the news, personal interest in gaining mental health knowledge, mental health issues, required formal learning and preparation for mental health counselling. Second, eleven types of information are used, with an emphasis on employment pressure, study stress and self-understanding. Third, mental health information needs differ with mental health status and some social-demographic factors (including gender, urban or rural origin and educational stage). Fourth, information needs can be characterized as dynamic; complex and diverse but concentrated on a few types; ambiguous and hard for participants to define; private; stigmatized; self-dependent and substitutable. Fifth, Internet sources used to meet such needs are mainly search engines, Question and Answer platforms, public social media platforms. Finally, a model of mental health information needs was built based on the above findings to map the whole process from what triggers a need, to the content and characteristics of information need, and online resources used to meet those needs.

The paper provides suggestions for university mental health services in developing more tailored knowledge contents via effective delivery methods to meet diverse needs of student groups.

This research is novel in using empirical data to build a holistic model that captures the context and the nature of mental health information needs of university students.

Competitive intelligence failures have devastating effects in marketplaces. They are attributed to various factors but seldom explicitly to information behaviour. This paper addresses causes of competitive intelligence failures from an information behaviour lens focussing on problems with key intelligence and information needs. The exploratory study was conducted in 2016/2017. Managers (end-users) identify key intelligence needs on which information is needed, and often other staff members seek the information (proxy information seeking). The purpose of this paper is to analyse problems related to key intelligence and information needs, and make recommendations to address the problems.

The study is placed in a post-positivism research paradigm, using qualitative and limited quantitative research approaches. In total, 15 participants (competitive intelligence professionals and educators/trainers originating from South Africa and the USA) contributed rich data through in-depth individual interviews.

Problems associated with articulation of information needs (key intelligence needs is the competitive intelligence term – with a broader scope) include inadequate communication between the person in need of information and the proxy information searcher; awareness and recognition of information needs; difficulty in articulation, incomplete and partial sharing of details of needs.

Participant recruitment was difficult, representing mostly from South Africa. The findings from this exploratory study can, however, direct further studies with a very understudied group.

However, revealed valuable findings that can guide research.

Little has been published on competitive intelligence from an information behaviour perspective. Frameworks guiding the study (a combination of Leckie et al.’s 1996 and Wilson’s, 1981 models and a competitive intelligence life cycle), however, revealed valuable findings that can guide research.

The purpose of this paper is to apply to the study of information needs the Johari Window framework that has long been accepted as a useful model for understanding interpersonal communication.

The work presents a newly‐constructed version of the Window to delineate a typology of information needs and to identify implications that emerge for information professionals.

The paper finds that information needs can be seen to fall into five broad categories: needs that are known to the individual but not to the information professional; needs that are known to both parties; needs that are known to the information professional but not the individual; needs that are misunderstood by the individual; and needs that are not known to either the individual or the information professional.

Conceptualising information needs in terms of the revised Johari Window highlights how information professionals are of crucial importance in helping clients satisfy their information needs, even in an era in which much information searching is done by end‐users themselves.

No previous paper has applied the Johari Window to the investigation of information needs and few authors have made an attempt to use the framework in any area of library and information science (LIS) whatsoever. The fact that the work deals with both theoretical and practical dimensions will interest LIS academics and library professionals who work regularly with information users.

The main goals of this study are identifying the information needs of new North American immigrants to Israel and to ascertain which channels of information are used by the immigrants before and after immigration to try to satisfy their information needs.

A qualitative research approach was used for this study. Qualitative interviews were implemented as the primary strategy for data with the application of the grounded theory method for analysis.

General information needs categories included: housing, schooling, health, banking and finances, drivers licenses, government‐related issues, legal issues and practical information. Personal information needs related to problems of “split” or prior immigration, changing over professional licenses, starting a business, children with special needs, and alternative medicine. Many of these needs were satisfied either prior to immigration or during the absorption process while others were left open leaving the immigrants with gaps in their knowledge, feelings of uncertainty and, at times, anxiety. During the preparations for immigration the greatest source of information came from the internet. After immigration, during the absorption process, word‐of‐mouth and personal contacts (social networks) were the main sources for the immigrants to satisfy their information needs.

Additional research regarding immigration and immigrants from all different backgrounds is needed. Such research will help us learn more about other specific group's information needs and information seeking behavior.

By learning and studying the information needs of immigrant's governments and immigration organizations can have a better understanding of how to assist immigrants have a successful integration into their new society.

Prospective immigrants, governments and immigration organizations can gain a deeper understanding of immigrant information needs and the channels used to satisfy those needs.

Understanding learning and information needs of youth could provide planners with information required to address the needs of youth in a community. Using data collected from 220 and 250 male and female youth through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and a questionnaire survey respectively, this study investigated the information and learning needs of youth in Uzoagba, a rural community in southeastern Nigeria. Two categories of youth could be identified based on their information practices. They are those under 12 where education, health/ HIV/AIDS and income dominate. Another is the group of those above 12 where the issues that dominate their needs are income/employment and education. In summary, youth want to remain healthy to develop their personal efficacy through education and then be usefully integrated into wider social and economic life. Meanwhile, they are concerned about how to participate in generating income to achieve this ultimate aim, and to assist their families and community.