Information Needs

Information Needs

Information need is an individual or group's desire to locate and obtain information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need. The ‘information’ and ‘need’ in ‘information need’ are an inseparable interconnection. Needs and interests call forth information. The objectives of studying information needs are:

  1. The explanation of observed phenomena of information use or expressed need;
  2. The prediction of instances of information uses;
  3. The control and thereby improvement of the utilization of information manipulation of essentials conditions.

Information needs are related to, but distinct from information requirements. An example is that a need is hunger; the requirement is food.

Read more about Information Needs:  Background

Famous quotes containing the word information:

    Many more children observe attitudes, values and ways different from or in conflict with those of their families, social networks, and institutions. Yet today’s young people are no more mature or capable of handling the increased conflicting and often stimulating information they receive than were young people of the past, who received the information and had more adult control of and advice about the information they did receive.
    James P. Comer (20th century)