ABSTRACT
Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new disease that has led to rapid and dramatic global changes. This study aims to investigate how Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens and noncitizens search for necessary information and assess available information sources, their associated awareness and anxiety levels, voluntary work, compliance with quarantine regulations and technology. Design/methodology/approach: An electronic questionnaire was designed using Google Forms and distributed on Twitter and WhatsApp. In total, 1,006 responses were received. Findings: The results showed that 75.25% of the participants were active information seekers because of their daily search for necessary information. "Formal sources,” "Social media” and "Television” were the most preferred information sources found by the study sample. Originality/value: This study investigates the behavior of GCC citizens and noncitizens in searching for necessary information during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it draws attention to the importance of digitization and digital preservation in building a specialized digital library for future access to pandemic-related information distributed by the government authorities and institutions in the State of Kuwait. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.