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Modeling community information behaviour in rural Sri Lanka: A citizen-centred perspective

Seneviaratne, Wathmanel and Gunawardene, G. C. and Siddhisena, K. A. P. (2006) Modeling community information behaviour in rural Sri Lanka: A citizen-centred perspective. In Khoo, C. and Singh, D. and Chaudhry, A.S., Eds. Proceedings A-LIEP 2006: Asia-Pacific Conference on Library & Information Education & Practice 2006, pages pp. 369-381, Singapore.

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Abstract

The study presents the findings of a sample survey carried out using two sub-sample populations (Rural Communities and Information providers). The main objective of the study is to explore the Community Information Needs of rural communities in Sri Lanka and their information behaviour. Fifteen categories of basic information needs of two types (‘survival’ and ‘strategic’) were identified. The nature of community information is recognized as non-bibliographic and service-oriented. The information supply position was identified as stagnated at service points, and the dynamism of the information has deteriorated within the delivery mechanisms limited to system structure. It was possible to calculate a Channel Dependency Rate (CDR) which showed that channels appropriate to provide certain categories of information were not strong and or operating as they should be. Rural citizens were also found to encounter a range of difficulties in accessing information, and it was found that these were related to geographical, structural (socio-economic and cultural) factors and personal reasons. The study proposes Community Information Centres using e-governance strategy with One Stop Shop (OSS) model, to be established at the village level using prevailing infrastructure to bridge the information gap existing in the rural areas of Sri Lanka.

EPrint Type:Conference Paper
Keywords:Community information behaviour, Sri Lanka
Subjects:Community Informatics
Information Seeking Behaviors
ID Code:1407
Deposited On:26 May 2007
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