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Information needs and information behaviour of the deafblind people : pilot research
Sanjica Faletar Tanacković
orcid.org/0000-0001-7387-6458
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Andrea Plavšić
orcid.org/0000-0002-5559-3902
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zadru, Zadar, Hrvatska
Snježana Stanarević Katavić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5413-3261
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Abstract
Paper presents the results of the pilot study of information needs and information behaviour of deafblind persons in eastern Croatia. The goal of the study was to identify information needs of deafblind persons in everday life, and find out how persons with such sensory impairements satisfy these needs. Special emphasis was put on their use of public libraries. The data were collected during November and December 2010 and January 2011 in structured interviews with nine respondents. The results confirmed that the respondents have diverse information needs and that they encounter numerous barriers when seeking information. The results have also shown that, as a rule, respondents cannot satisfy their information needs in local (public) libraries. Since there have not been similar studies in Croatia before, the paper can serve as theoretical and methodological initiative for future studies of this kind, and also encourage public libraries to start thinking about inclusion of deafblind persons into their (potential) user population, and help them by providing library services and building collections for persons with such sensory impairements.
Keywords
deafblind persons; information needs; information behaviour; public libraries; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
142387
URI
Publication date:
8.6.2014.
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