David Nicholas is Head of the Department of Information Science, City University. He is also Director of the Internet Studies Research Group. Current interests lie in the impact of the Internet on key strategic groups and the potential of web log analysis. Other interests include information and the media; information needs analysis and bibliometrics.

• Acknowledgements, 1. Introduction 2. Why undertake information needs assessments? 3. What are information needs? 4. A framework for evaluating information needs 5. Factors involved in the meeting of information need 6. Collecting the data 7. Conclusion 8. References and selected bibliography