Exploring the Information-seeking Behaviour of Students at the Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria, who Use Mobile Technologies to Access Information

Abstract

The advent and development of ICTs brought about changes that influence users’ information-seeking by using mobile devices. This article contains a report from a doctoral thesis on a qualitative phenomenological study that explored the use of mobile devices by undergraduate students at the Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria, to seek academic-related information. A semi-structured interview schedule was employed to collect data from 21 students from years 2, 3 and 4. Owing to certain features of mobile devices, the findings suggested that mobile devices influenced the students’ information-seeking behaviour. The features that influenced the use of mobile technologies for information-seeking purposes included affordability, ease of use, portability, and convenience. However, features such as screen size and unstable networks negatively affected the use of mobile devices for information-seeking purposes. In turn, some user-related characteristics, such as a lack of information literacy skills and a lack of knowledge on how to use mobile technologies, seemed to affect the students’ willingness to use mobile technologies for information-seeking purposes.