ABSTRACT
The information needs of the peoples of the developing regions are for work-related activities, leisure, consumption, and daily survival. Due to low literacy levels and ignorance about other sources, the general information-seeking behaviors include passive quests for information and heavy reliance on opinion leaders, rumors, and oral sources, with the library often the least preferred source for information. Even with an emphasis on the seeking of information for utilitarian purposes, people generally have not adopted the habit of utilizing information resources such as libraries and information centers in their work, life, and study. Due to their urban locations, distance and poor information infrastructures, libraries and information centers are not patronized frequently and regularly by many potential users, who instead resort to the use of their own personal collections and individual contacts. In the face of poor retrieval devices, browsing is the most favored approach to determine the relevance of materials to be consulted. In some instances people use information outside that for which they express interest. The predicament of libraries and information centers in developing regions is made worse by lack of local content, the failure to develop indigenous knowledge systems, and especially the advent of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The latter have brought about further lower patronage because most libraries and information centers cannot afford the ICTs. Finally, the inefficiency of general municipal services makes the information seeker exert more effort and spend more time to access information than might be expected in developed countries.
