Studying in Taiwan: the Information Needs on Homesickness of International Students Si-Min, Li 1 Abstract: The mobilization of individuals with all kinds of motivations has been a political and social issue today. Considering the talented people and migrant workers can contribute their knowledge and perspectives to country and society, government should provide incentives to attract these potentially mobile populations by relieving their homesickness which is a common and inevitable emotion with negative features and reflections existing in different people. Compared with other factors affecting immigrants staying or returning, homesickness is an abstract and private expression which depends on personal background and experience and cannot be eliminated over times. According to the above assumptions and considering the urgent needs of Taiwan’s International space, two males and five females International students aged from undergraduates to PhD candidates across four continents studying in Taiwan as purposive sampling constitute the design of this study. This study employs semi- structure interviews and Critical Incident Technique to analysis seven students’ homesickness and their coping strategies and tries to suggest assistant to alleviate homesickness of such students. The resultant transcripts emerge as themes and subthemes: the reasons for studying in Taiwan; impressions of Taiwan; understanding of homesickness; the strategies of dealing with homesickness; and suggestions. The results show that different people have different interpretations on homesickness which lead to different strategies and information behaviors. Students from East-Asia whose countries share more similarities with Taiwan admitted Taiwan can relieve their homesickness, but those from remoter places and with stranger cultures, in other words non-East-Asian students, felt unfamiliar and helpless especially when they were freshmen. Taiwan government at present cannot provide enough activities and language environments to satisfy them. The study argues that if the authority wants to retain immigrants out of East Asia, it has to consider relieving the homesickness of immigrants with different means including the provision of appropriate software. Key words: international students, homesickness, information need The mobilization of individuals has been a political and social issue today. 1 A graduate from Library & Information Science Department of National Taiwan Normal University