Variable Affecting the Information Needs and Seeking Behavior of Educational Administrators : A Review

The study aims at reviewing the research studies conducted to find out the information needs and seeking behavior of educational administrators, and other stakeholders of education enterprise. The purpose of this review is to identify the important variables affecting the information needs and seeking behavior of educational administrators. An effort is also made to review the status of such research studies in Pakistan. The paper is based on comprehensive review of available literature. For the literature search, valid sources of published and unpublished information were consulted (i.e., books, journal articles, reports, conference/workshop proceedings, theses, etc.). Recommendations and conclusions are also drawn in the light of reviewed literature. The study reveals that many variables are affecting the information needs and seeking behavior of educational administrators: such as their work context, administrative responsibilities and work experience along with source preferences and use of information. It was also found that no comprehensive research study was conducted to find out the information needs and seeking behavior of educational stakeholders working at the administrative positions in Pakistan (i.e., deans, registrars, heads of departments in universities, school and college principals etc.).