The information needs of visually impaired people and library services: a meta-analysis

This study reviews research literature on the information needs of visually impaired people and the role of libraries in meeting these needs. Design/Methodology/Approach: Persian and English databases including NLAI, Irandoc, Medlib, Sid, Magiran, Iranmedex, PMC, Scopus, PubMed, and CINAHL were searched using the keywords "information needs", "health information needs", "blind people", "visually impaired people", "low vision", "library services", to find documents discussing the role of librarians in providing information to visually impaired people. The body of literature identified, was categorized by four elements: information resources, tools and technologies, library services, information providers. For data gathering, a descriptive survey was used. In projects carried out in other countries, research populations were selected based on the type of library and type of organization. In domestic research projects, only the services of libraries were satisfactory. The other three elements were poor.