Information Needs and Information Seeking Behaviour of Rural Women Entrepreneurs in Abia State Nigeria:- Okoro, C. A

Abstract

 This study investigated the information needs and information seeking behaviourofrural women entrepreneursin Abia State, Nigeria. A totalof180 • I I ■ rural women entrepreneurs werepurposively sampled. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in the selection ofthis sample size. In thefirststage, two local government areas were selectedfrom the three senatorialzones in Abia State namely, Bende and Ikwuano Local Government Areas. In the secondstage, one community wasselectedfrom each local GovernmentArea; Nkpa in Bende Local Government Area and Umudike in Ikwuano Local GovernmentArea. In thefinalstage, thirty (30)ruralwomen actively involved in entrepreneurship were purposively selectedfrom three villages in these communities. Findings ofthe study revealedthatruralwomen entrepreneurs inAbia State do understandthat theyhave information needs. Butmost exhibit poor information seeking behaviour while seeking information due to some reasons. These reasons includes workloads, poor educational background, secrecy, lack ofknowledge about thefunctions oflibraries, time constrains and many otherfactors. The study therefore recommends the promotion of user educationprogrammes, CurrentAwareness Services (CAS) andSelective dissemination of Information (SDI) especially by female librarians, Prioritization of rural electrification programmes and improvement of poverty) eradicationprogrammesfy theNigerian government, as a -way out of theseproblems.