English abstract
This study aimed to identify the nature of information need of the
economists and bankers at the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), the types of
information resources, which they used, the information searching
methods, which they used and the difficulties that they faced in accessing
to the information. The study was based on the descriptive survey
methodology. The questionnaire was used as a tool to collect quantitative
data. The questionnair was distributed to (151) employees in ten
departments that serve the objectives of the study. (11) questionnaires
were excluded, which were the questionnaires of respondents from the
investment department, because of a large lack of data, Thus, the total of
the study population became (140), and the total of retrieved
questionnaires reached (104) ones. The researcher relied on the SPSS
program to analyze data using descriptive analysis method.
The study reached a set of results, the most important of which
were: the economists and bankers of the CBO need financial and
economic information that helps them to perform their tasks such as
making a decision on a specific topic or solving a problem and preparing
the reports, researches, studies, issuing journals. The study sample used
the formal information resources, the Internet was the most used, the
informal information sources were used and the colleagues consulted in
the bank were the most frequently. The results also pointed to the
diversity of methods of searching information used by the study sample,
the most used were browsing the Internet by using search engines and
browsing specialized websites, browsing electronic databases, and
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browsing electronic versions of government publications, periodicals and
books. The study also found a set of difficulties faced by economists and
bankers in the CBO in accessing information, the most influential of which
were the lack of an electronic document archiving system, the lack of
training programs to use the electronic resources subscribed by the bank
library, and the lack of regulations, legislation and regulations on
information exchange and availability.
The study concluded with a set of recommendations, the most
important of which were: To complete the procedures for the provision of
electronic archiving system in the CBO, and to start using it effectively,
and to provide training programs that allow employees of the CBO to
develop their skills in the search for information in electronic sources and
benefit from it.
