Information seeking behaviour of users in IIT Patna

Abstract

This paper examines the information-seeking behaviour of users in IIT Patna. The purpose of the study was to investigate the various aspects of information need and information-seeking behaviour of users in the Central Library of IIT Patna. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted, and 150 questionnaires were dispersed among the research scholars and PG students. The 133 filled questionnaires were received. It has been observed that the majority of respondents (37.8%) visit library once in a week, while 14.1% visit everyday. A large number of respondents visit library for their research work (77.8%). It has depicted that among the various library resources text books (74.8%) are used by large number of respondents, 60.7% respondents have good knowledge about subscribed e-resources while 62% respondents regularly used online journals followed by 45% use e-books and online databases usage is 26%. While assessing the satisfaction level of users with the library services and facilities provided by the Central Library, it has been found that 85.02% respondents are happy with it. The questionnaire attempted to gather the IT knowledge and problems encountered while searching information and also considered suggestions given by research scholars, and PG students. This study suggests proper awareness and training programmes are required to provide more awareness about information resources and library services for maximum utilization of the library.