Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) Members, Yenagoa Branch, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Authors

Abraham Tabor Etebu Ph.D, cln, mnla, Niger Delta UniversityFollow
Godwin Oberhiri-Orumah (cln, mnla), Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa StateFollow

Abstract

The study sought to identify the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) Members in Yenagoa Branch, Bayelsa State. The specific purpose of the study was to: examine the information needs of Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria members in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria; find out how Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria members in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria seek for needed information; determine the problems encountered by Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria members in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria while seeking for needed information; and proffer solutions to the determined problems of information seeking by RTEAN members. Four research questions were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and the sample comprised two hundred and twenty (222) RTEAN members out of a population of 882 drivers registered in ten motor parks. A questionnaire was used to generate data for the study and the data generated were analysed using frequency tables and percentages. The park chairmen were used as research assistants to distribute and retrieve the copies of the questionnaire. The copies of the questionnaire were administered to those literate members who could respond to them. The result revealed that their most important information needs are; information on how to avoid accidents, where to get the best (superior) spare parts, and to know the most lucrative routes, while the most common strategies adopted to get information are through union activities, consulting friends and experts. Some of the problems associated with seeking information include time factors, illiteracy and the absence of information centres. Solutions were proffer on the basis of the findings of the study that government should establish information centres in the motor parks, as this will go a long way in making information readily available to these road transport workers, who also contribute to the national and state economy.