Information needs and information competencies: a case study of the off-site supervision of financial institutions in Brazil

Introduction. The paper deals with the identification of the information needs and information competencies of a professional group. Theoretical basis. A theoretical relationship between information needs and information competencies as subjects is proposed. Three dimensions are examine: cognitive, affective and situational. The recognition of an information need was linked to the development of competencies to analyse the problem in focus. Methodology. Qualitative epistemology was used and the research strategy was a case study. The research techniques were document analysis, interviews, participant observation, work process analysis and focus groups. Analysis and results. The analysis of critical success factors and the work processes mapping brought understanding of the relationship between the identified information needs and the information competencies developed to satisfy them. Conclusion. Information needs were closely linked to the needs of the work processes and that the competencies developed to attend these needs were closely related to the success factors. The proposed research framework offered a new perspective that had positive results in understanding the main characteristics of the activity.

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