Investigation of information needs and information-seeking behaviour of Members of Parliament in Lesotho

Abstract

Information plays a crucial role in people's lives. Members of Parliament (MPs) as decision makers therefore need to be equipped with information so that they can be able to make sound decisions based on facts. They need to have access to different types of information sources such as newspapers, both local, regional and international, journals and books. Libraries of parliaments are and should also be seen to be making it easier for MPs to access information. This study investigates the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of MPs of the Lesotho parliament. A survey was done where questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from 120 members of the National Assembly and 33 Senators who all comprise Members of Parliament of Lesotho. The questionnaire consisted of both the open-ended and closed ended questions. Through the open-ended questions, the researcher was able to get more details which could not be found in short-ended questions. Interviews were also used to give the respondents the opportunity to say more of what they could not be able to say in the questionnaire. However only a selected questions were picked where the researcher felt that the respondents could further express themselves. Only five willing respondents were used in the interviews as others were not willing to be interviewed. Telephone interview was chosen as more convenient by respondents since they do not have much time during the day due to their parliamentary work commitments.MPs in Lesotho have indicated their information needs as all information that can be helpful in their parliamentary work such as during debates, when attending meetings be it workshops, conferences and interviews on political issues. Besides other information sources, such as newspapers, reports and the Internet, MPs rely mostly on books. They also use other fellow parliamentarians as sources of information.