Inter. J. Info. Manag. Sci. (2013) 2(1): 17-24 Research Article A Comparative Study of Information Seeking Behaviors of Medical Faculty Working in Government and Private Run Medical Colleges Ghulam Farid, Muhammad Abiodullah and Dr. Muhammad Ramzan Rashid Latif Medical College, Lahore, Institute of Education & Research University of the Punjab, Lahore, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore Corresponding author’s email: mramzaninfo@gmail.com Abstract The purpose of the research was to examine patterns of information seeking and to determine the difference in information seeking behaviors of Government and Private Faculty members of medical colleges. A survey of government and private medical colleges was conducted, 112 medical faculty of different cadre were selected by using convenience method. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 19. Frequency and percentage of each statement were calculated. Chi-square test was conducted to find association between type of faculty and type of responses. The results of the analysis show that medical faculty use varied channels to update their knowledge of the subjects and differences also exist in information seeking behaviors of government and private medical faculty on some issues. Generally faculty teaching in government medical colleges tends to use library resources more as compare to private medical faculty. Key Words: Information seeking behaviour, medical information and knowledge, differences in information seeking behaviours, medical faculty information seeking, faculty information seeking. Introduction In every society, medical education is a compulsory part of its education system. Medical education ensures the health of the people of the society. The quality of services of doctors depends on up-to-date information and knowledge about diseases, diagnosis process, equipments, latest research and available medicines. There are many ways to get fresh, authentic and reliable knowledge. In the information language we call it information seeking. The level of access to information, in addition to other factors also depends on individual’s information seeking habits, behaviors and skills. Information seeking has been defined as “an activity of an individual that is undertaken to identify a message that satisfies the perceived needs” (Adewole, 1984, Nwokedi and Haruna 2005). Similarly, Devadason and Lingam (1997) wrote that through understanding information seeking patterns of different professional groups, it is easy to plan and implement provision and access to information in their fields of interest. Access to information is vital for medical practioners and faculty to handle health problems of the society and for education of the young medical students. Access to and use of updated information is important to avoid intellectual stagnation and introduce innovative means of dealing health issues (Sulemani and Katsekpor 2007). Bigdeli (2004) mentioned that a significant amount of medical information changes rapidly and at a faster speed. Inventions in diagnostic methods, rejection of earlier methods and techniques and abandoning existing medicines require that medical teachers and practioners remains updated through seeking fresh, authenticated information in their respective field. Studies on information seeking behavior of medical faculty reveal varied channels of obtaining