Access and use of information resources and services by staff at the state department for East African Integration, Kenya

Abstract

The role of the State Department for East African Integration in Kenya is to coordinate the affairs of East African Community. Access to and use of information by staff at the State Department for East African Integration is so critical if the Department is to achieve its goals and objectives. Despite the importance of information in meeting the aspirations of the department, members of staff appear not to have fully benefited from the information services in the department. For those who have been fortunate to access this information, the information has not been adequate judging from the information resources and services found within the department. The aim of the study was to investigate access to and use of information by staff at the State Department for East African Integration in Kenya with a view to proposing appropriate measures for improvement. The specific objectives of the study were to: establish the kind of work that staff at the Ministry of East African Integration do; determine their information needs and information seeking behaviour; establish tools used by staff in accessing information resources and services; ascertain the effectiveness of the information resources and services provided to the staff in the Department; identify the factors which hinder access to and use of information resources and services; and to propose measures for better access and use of information resources and services by staff at the department. The study was informed by Wilson’s theory of Global model of information behaviour and Niedźwiedzka’s proposed general model of information behaviour. The study was qualitative in nature. The researcher used interview schedule to collect data. Data analysis was done thematically. The study established that the information resources and services provided in the department were inadequate to meet the needs of the staff and this impacted negatively on their work; tools used in accessing information resources and services were not adequate and effective and funding was also found to be a major obstacle inhibiting provision of information resources and services. It can be concluded that although the staff at SDAA are able to work with the available information services, they are still inadequate thus calling for their improvement in terms of information, staff and financial resources. It is recommended that SDEAI should improve information resources and services by providing adequate information resources in the library and internet services; the department should ensure that tools for accessing information resources and are provided; a strong information management unit should be established to coordinate information resources and services scattered in the department and the department should allocate enough financial resources to carter for the provision of information resources and services