Information needs and Information Seeking Behavior of Users of the Regional Information Center for Science and Technology (RICeST): A Quantitative and Qualitative Approach

Objective: The purpose of this research was to assess the information needs and information seeking behavior of the users of the Regional Science and Technology Information Center (RICEST). Methods: The study applied both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection as a mixed-method. Two hundred thirty-four users participated in the survey and four librarians were interviewed. Results: The findings show that the most information needs of the users were related to scientific activities, writing articles and dissertations, and performing job duties, respectively. The full text of the articles in the RICEST database, more up-to-date scientific sources, reliable sources in non-scientific subjects were among the other needs of the users. Despite the access to resources, more than half of the users faced obstacles in meeting their information needs. The lack of required resources and suitable guide in the database of RICEST and the lack of familiarity with the type and coverage of resources were the most important obstacles. From the users' point of view, Persian scientific publications were evaluated at good quality and other information sources were evaluated at the average level. The findings of the qualitative section showed that the users' needs are in two categories of services and information resources. On the one hand, the librarians considered the obstacles facing the users to be related to the lack of sufficient mastery of the English language, the lack of ability to find information and research methods, and on the other hand, they considered the lack of equipment to serve users with physical or movement problems. Conclusions: This study showed that most information needs of the users of the RICeST are related to their scientific research activities, and their information seeking behaviors are affected by these needs. Despite the range and coverage of the information sources indexed in the RICeST database, most of the users have difficulty in accessing the information. To effectively meet users’ information needs, it is necessary to carry out needs assessment studies periodically in the Regional Information Center for Science and Technology (RICeST).