Appear to check at the information centre (4)
I believe the answer is:
seem
'appear' is the definition.
('seem' can be a synonym of 'appear')
'check at the information centre' is the wordplay.
'check' becomes 'see' ('see' can be a synonym of 'check'**).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'centre' says to take the centre.
The centre of 'information' is 'm'.
'see'+'m'='SEEM'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for seem that I've seen before include "Appear, look" , "Appear to the eye" , "Come across as" , "Appear, give impression of being" .)