Investigation of information needs as well as of forms and mechanisms for its procurement by representative institutions in their role of opinion makers. A sample of nine institutions was selected for the study, being it related to the following sectors: industry, education, unions, labor, banking, women, black culture and consumers. Triangulation was used as a means for collecting data, with complementary use of informal interviews, questionnaire and document analysis. The results show that to the studied entities, paper sources and Internet are equally important; informal communication does not constitute the main informational resource; there is convergence, both regarding information needs and behavior in searching the information that is of interest to the entities.
Opinion making; Information sources; Representative institutions; Information management
