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search for information, the study probed the respondents using questions
such as "the purpose/use of their information need?" For example, the
purpose/use for information in agriculture by rural women in Kenya is
motivated by the need for good harvests, farming, enhancing herd fertility,
prevention of diseases, aesthetic values and for health reasons. Deductions
that can therefore be made from this study are that some of the problems
women face in agriculture in the rural areas of Kenya include good harvests,
herd fertility, crop/plant diseases of various types etc. In other words, these
problem areas are some of the driVing factors behind the need for
agricultural information amongst rural Kenyan women.
3.5 Information seeking behaviour
There are varying models that contribute to the conceptual defin·ition of
information seeking behaviour. For instance, Wilson's (1999) first model on
information seeking behaviour argues that information-seeking behaviour
results from the recognition of some need as perceived by the user.
According to Wilson, information seeking behaviour may take forms that
include making demands upon formal systems such as libraries, online
services or information centres, estate agents, car sales agencies etc.
Additionally, the user may seek information from other people in a bid to
participate in a form of "information exchange". The author's second model
on information seeking behaViour is based on propositions that an
information need is not a primary need, but a secondary need that arises out
of needs of a more basic kind (i.e. physiological, cognitive or affective) and
that in an effort to discover information that satisfies a need, the enquirer is
likely to encounter barriers of different kinds. The author suggests that
barriers that impede the search for information normally arise out of the
same set of contexts (i.e. political, economic and technological).
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