Little is published about the information-seeking habits of contemporary Egyptian artists, a community of creative intellectuals at the forefront of the current political and cultural revolution in the Middle East. Using Susie Cobbledick's and William S. Hemmig's frameworks for understanding the information-seeking patterns of artists, this article interprets the responses of young Egyptian artists through a phenomenographic analysis. The author presents the results of in-depth interviews with eight Cairo-based artists, carefully examining five types of artists' information needs.
backgroundThe protest movement known as the Arab Spring started in several Middle Eastern countries in late 2010. Protests in Egypt began in January of 2012, and by February then-President Hosni Mubarak resigned his office. Political power was transferred to the Armed Forces of Egypt. In November, Mohamed Morsi was democratically elected president. After a brief period of calm, protests erupted again in the summer of 2013, and Morsi was removed from government. As of this writing, the political future of Egypt is still uncertain.The violent protests and political upheaval have made lasting impressions on artists living in Cairo. Many were active participants in the early demonstrations; however, the revolution has not had a large impact on their creative needs and access to information. The challenges they faced before Arab Spring were not remedied by the protests. An outdated government-run educational system poorly prepares Egyptian students to think independently or pursue creative careers. A rigid political system greatly affects access to information, as does a religious culture that may be intolerant of Western perspectives. Access to digital content is limited by both technology and language. English as a second language, lack of Arabic language content, and trans-