Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Faculty Members and Graduate Students in a Public University, Bangladesh

Abstract

The study aims to explore the information needs and seeking behavior of users at the University of Chittagong Library, with a particular focus on faculty members and graduate students. The study used a quantitative research methodology. A set of questionnaires was used to gather information regarding the information needs of library users, their preferred information-seeking behaviors, and their overall satisfaction with the library's offerings. The descriptive findings were investigated using a variety of descriptive statistics, and Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to see whether there were any statistically significant variations in the patrons’ demographic data regarding the frequency of library visits. Findings indicate that faculty members and graduate students have a wide range of information needs, including access to academic journals, research materials, and specialized databases. Based on the analysis of the data; the "Asymp. Sig (2-tailed)" is reported as 0.719, indicating that there is no significant difference in library visit frequency between females and males. On the basis of the user response academic journal is the mostly used sources while research paper and journals is the mostly used sources. Regarding sources and standards of information for research purposes activity academic standard is the most considered standard. The findings can inform future developments and improvements in library services, aiming to enhance user experiences.