The Literature Review

The literature review found that there is virtually no literature specifically about the demand for information on transport issues in rural areas in developing countries, although there is much tacit knowledge and a substantial volume of knowledge about transport needs and much detailed case-study information is available in the literature or on web sites [i] .  There is a general assumption about the demand for and value of information for policy makers and practitioners [ii] , and information is recognised as vital for learning about the impact of development interventions in general [iii] .  The dissemination of information is one of the aims of many of the institutions working in this sector and the importance of knowledge sharing is emphasised in their institutional strategies [iv] . Some of these institutions have undertaken an analysis of the information needs of their target audiences to develop their information strategies [v] , although these are only described in internal documents and have not been made available to the public. Most of these strategies seem to be based on the outputs from transport research programmes, rather than an assessment of the information needs of potential users [vi] . There are some new initiatives on information sharing in rural transport issues, which could contribute substantially to any future dissemination strategies [vii] . There are many analyses of information constraints in the appraisal of rural transport projects, and this is used by some authors to justify the development of alternative models based on local information [viii] . There are also many methodologies, guides and articles describing the kind of information needed for transport planning, for example, sectoral approaches [ix] ; participatory rural planning [x] ; integrated rural accessibility planning [xi] ; and for environmental impact assessment of transport projects [xii] .  Most authors agree that information needs are highly context specific, and an attempt to systematise knowledge about information needs [xiii] and provision [xiv] failed to identify any general gaps and opportunities. However, there does seem to be more information about roads than other modes of transport, and more on transport technology than social and economic factors.

The review identified a number of categories of information developed and used by different institutions in the infrastructure sector. This spectrum of information supply is in part-response to information demand, but is also a reflection of the kinds of activities being undertaken, chronicled and disseminated by actors in the transport sector.