An ethnographic study of information needs and practices of nomadic people of Babadi Clan of Bakhtiari tribe

Background and aim: the aim was to study information needs and practices of nomadic people of Babadi clan of Bakhtiari tribe. Methods: the study uses ethnography as method and uses observation and semi-structured interview as data collection techniques. Results: life style increasingly influences and directs the way nomadic people look for information. They prefer informal information resources and use formal sources of information as their very low priority. Nomads seek practical information for solving their daily life problems. Most of nomadic people use interaction with others as the way of looking for information and they use friends, family, and elders of their clan for this purpose. Head of the clan and elders play an important role as sources of information and trust criteria for most of nomadic people is the level of knowledge they have about the source of information. Conclusion: nomads probably due to their limited access to formal information resources (e.g. libraries and information services) still rely on oral culture and interpersonal communications. There is a need to design and develop proper information services to meet their information needs and remove barriers to their information access.