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Introduction
The following article reports part of more wide-ranging research which investigated the information-seeking behaviour of graduate students at Kuwait University. The focus here is a description of the research modelling this behaviour. The stated aim of the research was to investigate the information seeking behaviour of graduate students within the context of Kuwait, and to explore, in particular, the factors influencing the patterns of such information seeking. The objectives relevant to the research discussed here are: to identify and consider existing models of information seeking behaviour; to investigate the range of influences to which graduate students are subject when seeking information; to consider the effect of cultural factors on information seeking; and to develop a model of the information seeking behaviour of graduate students at Kuwait University.
During the last decade, many research studies have investigated information-seeking behaviour in various disciplines (notably psychology and information science). This study was designed to consider some areas which had not been so thoroughly explored. As a result, the study is of specific worth because it concentrates on graduate students, and on the particular cultural characteristics and influences of a developing country - in this case, Kuwait. It is recognised that Kuwait is a specific developing country and is likely to differ from other countries which are developing. In the broader category of developing countries, models of information behaviour have been developed. It is therefore argued that the study represents an original slant on the issue of information-seeking behaviour, and discusses an important and emerging element within the area. The specific and definite contribution of the research discussed in the following article identifies the differences and similarities found when comparing UK/western models of information-seeking behaviour and the case of a developing country.
As a sub-discipline within the field of library and information science, information behaviour describes "how people need, seek, manage, give and use information in different contexts" ([47] Savolainen, 2007, p. 112). There is no single theory of information seeking and information behaviour approaches are often regarded in terms of models since they focus on specific problems ([7] Case, 2007). Furthermore, definitions of information-seeking behaviour and the related concepts of information literacy and information use vary in their interpretation, and so tend to overlap ([28] Hughes, 2006)....