Information Seeking Behavior Of Students Research Articles

Space invaders: First-time users feel like intruders in the makerspace

Makerspaces have proven to be mainstays within library ecosystems. However, alongside the continued popularization of library makerspaces, there remains a seemingly immovable issue endemic to these environments; makerspaces continue to attract a narrow demographic of patrons. The threshold of the makerspace serves as a critical site for inquiry, specifically, for insight around students' everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behaviors. This study responds to the research question, “Why do students from underrepresented communities turn away at the threshold of a makerspace?” The research design is methodologically informed by participatory action research (PAR) and grounded theory and uses a virtual reality (VR) makerspace to provide a consistent “threshold” experience to capture students' fleeting first impressions. The research findings offer novel insight into the information seeking behaviors of students by capturing and analyzing critical data that haven't been collected before: the real-time thoughts and feelings of students from underrepresented communities entering a makerspace for the first time.

Effect of information literacy skills on university students’ information seeking behaviour and lifelong learning

This study investigated the influence of information literacy (IL) skills on students' information seeking behaviour and lifelong learning skills in Higher Educational institutions in Ghana, with particular reference to the University of Cape Coast (UCC). Using a mixed method approach, 278 students from the College of Education Studies, UCC were sampled for the study. The components of the American College and Research Library (ACRL) model was used to measure the information literacy competence level of the students. A content and bibliographic evaluation of students’ research projects were conducted using document analysis. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between information literacy skills and information seeking behaviour of students from data collected through questionnaires, interviews and document analysis. The results revealed that respondents had developed substantial skills in information literacy and lifelong learning skills and thus adopted positive attitudes in information seeking. The paper concludes that majority of the students were confident users of information. The study recommends that academic libraries should make available a wide array of information sources and deliberately run programmes to introduce students to those information sources as a way of building their competency levels in information literacy.

Perilaku Pencarian Informasi Mahasiswa Fakultas Ekonomi Bisnis Islam Tahun 2019 di Perpustakaan UIN Sumatera Utara Medan

This essay discusses how students of the Faculty of Islamic Economics and Business use the State Islamic University of North Sumatra Medan Library in 2019 to find information. The following will be described in this paper: 1) Islamic Business Economics students' methods of information seeking at the Library of North Sumatra State Islamic University Medan; 2) the challenges that came up while trying to find information at the Medan North Sumatra State Islamic University Library; and, thirdly, the means by which these obstacles can be overcome. Data is gathered through questionnaires or surveys. It can be interpreted as follows on the basis of the findings of the research: ( 1) The Islamic Business Economics Department received positive feedback regarding the information-seeking behavior of students in 2019, as well as the obstacles these students encountered when looking for information. a) They do not require any information; b) Submissions must be incomplete; ( c) there is trouble in finding assortments since they are on an alternate rack from the OPAC framework; ( 3) There are ways to get around obstacles when looking for information: a) giving and finishing assortments as per the necessities of understudies and speakers; ( b) Create a collection shelf that is compatible with OPAC search engines to make it simple for users to locate the data they require.
 Keywords: Information search behavior; Information Needs, Librarians

The use of Academic Library and Information Seeking Behaviour of Students at LIUTEBM University

This study aimed at assessing the use of academic library and information seeking behaviour of nursing and clinical medicine first year students at LIUTEBM University. The objectives of the study were to determine how often nursing and clinical medicine first year students used the library, to ascertain the purpose for which nursing and clinical medicine first year students used the library, to explore the extent of awareness of library services by nursing and clinical medicine first year students and to determine the challenges faced in accessing library services. Using descriptive research design, 30 students were purposively selected. Findings revealed that there were more female students enrolled in the programmes. The study also established that the library was being used occasionally by many students. Results on the purpose for using the library showed that many were using it to read in order to improve personal competence. The findings also revealed that majority students were aware of book display services while challenge revealed was inadequate time to seek needed information. The need by LIUTEBM University management to consider improving internet connectivity in the library to encourage information access in electronic form was recommended. This was seen as way through which many users can begin frequenting the library. Increasing the library operational hours to allow students access information outside their lectures hours was also highlighted. Accordingly, LIUTEBM University management were urged to consider subscribing to more online journals that would allow utilization of electronic information to complement existing physical copies of information.

Predictors of Mental Health Literacy and Information Seeking Behavior Toward Mental Health Among University Students in Resource-Limited Settings.

This paper investigated mental health literacy level and information seeking behavior, and mental health-related information sources in limited-resource settings, in the case of Ethiopian university students. A cross-sectional, self-administered web-based survey was conducted among Dilla University students, from 1 January to 29 February 2022, with a total of 780 respondents. We presented descriptive statistics using mean, standard deviations, and proportions. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were employed to identify factors associated with mental health literacy and information seeking behavior of students. Further, path analysis was also employed. The result showed 71 (9.1%) respondents had a diagnosed history of mental illness. Overall, 397 (50.9%) respondents were identified as having adequate mental health literacy and 420 (53.8%) sought mental health information. In multivariate analysis, mental health literacy was significantly associated with: being female (AOR = 2.8; 95% CI (1.5-5.4)), higher digital health literacy (AOR=2.8; 95% CI (1.5-5.4), seeking mental health-related information (AOR=1.6; 95% CI: (1.1-2.5)), having family with mental illness, and students in health-related programs (AOR = 2.1; 95% CI (1.0-4.2)). Furthermore, health-related programs, level of mental health literacy, exposure to mental health problems in the family, and were associated with information seeking behavior regarding mental health. Further, path analysis revealed significant positive associations of information seeking behavior and digital health literacy with mental health literacy. The result indicated the status of university students' mental health literacy level and information seeking behavior were low and inadequate. This study suggests the need to improve students' digital health competencies by designing mental health literacy programs by collaboration of different stakeholders, and mental health literacy programs need to optimize access to internet and online resources in the university settings.

A Study of Information Need and Information Seeking Behavior of Students of A.Y.K.K's Arts Mahila College, Dhule (MS)

A Study of Information Need and Information Seeking Behavior of Students of A.Y.K.K's Arts Mahila College, Dhule (MS)

Information Seeking Behavior of Darul Qur'an Mulia Islamic Boarding School Students in Determining Higher Education Study Programs

This study aims to determine the level of information-seeking behavior of students in SMA Class XII Pesantren Terpadu Darul Qur'an Mulia in determining the study program in higher education. This type of research is descriptive research with a quantitative approach. The population of this study amounted to 204 students of Class XII Pesantren Terpadu Darul Qur'an Mulia, and the sample was taken by purposive sampling technique using the Slovin formula, so that a sample of 67 students was obtained. This research uses Kuhlthau's 1993 Information Search Process (ISP) model. Kuhlthau's theory has six stages including initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection, and presentation. The results showed that the information seeking behavior of students in determining the study program in higher education was classified as good. This can be seen from each stage of the Kuhlthau model, most students experience feelings, thoughts and actions that are in accordance with the Kuhlthau model, namely: Initiation gets a score of 3.27 (Very Good), Selection gets a score of 3.12 (Good), Exploration got a score of 2.92 (Good), Formulation got a score of 3.12 (Good), Collection got a score of 3.06 (Good) and Presentation got a score of 3.22 (Good). Santri experience all the stages that exist in the Kuhlthau model, especially at the Initiation stage, both in feelings, thoughts, and actions taken. Meanwhile, at the exploration stage, students tend not to feel the feeling to stop searching and the inconsistency of information as according to Kuhlthau's model. Based on the results of the study, the information seeking behavior of students in determining the study program in higher education as a whole is at a good level by obtaining a score of 3.11 (Good).

Information needs and information-seeking behaviour of maritime students: a systematic literature review using the PRISMA method

PurposeDigital information seeking behavior incorporates the effective information seeking, retrieving and using in maritime studies. Moreover, digital information literacy skills support the employment of digital tools and information databases for decision making and for performing specific tasks online. The main aim of this paper is to explore the relevant research for the information needs and information seeking behaviour of maritime students.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review over scholarly publications in English language over the last decade was performed through PRISMA method.FindingsThe systematic literature review resulted to 22 related publications that are consistent with the criteria of the systematic literature review. These publications are analysed and discussed. The need for further research in the area of information seeking behaviour of students of maritime studies as well as of digital information literacy is exposed.Originality/valueThis work explores the behavioural patterns surrounding the central role of information for maritime students as well as for decision-making in the maritime sector. Digital information literacy competencies are discussed in order to be included in the curricula of maritime studies.

Information-seeking behaviour of students at a Caribbean University during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThis study investigated how students of the Faculties of Humanities and Education and Social Sciences at a Caribbean University sought information during the COVID-19 pandemic, identified challenges they experienced in seeking information for academic tasks and how satisfied they were with the Library's provision of electronic resources and services during this period.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey design was adopted for this study. Data were collected using an online questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.FindingsThis study revealed that undergraduates relied upon lecture notes to complete assignments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Undergraduate students have developed a definite information-seeking pattern, which did not change during the pandemic. They tend to use information channels that require the least effort. Postgraduate students used a variety of Library information channels but primarily used electronic journals. On the whole, students experienced challenges while seeking information via the channels provided by the Library. Students were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the Library's provision of electronic resources and services.Research limitations/implicationsThe study used non-probability sampling and only included students from two faculties at one university. As a result, the findings may not be generalized to the entire student population or all Caribbean universities.Practical implicationsThe results of this study can be used to identify the difficulties students are having in accessing information from the Library and gauge service delivery.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the scholarship from the Caribbean written to show whether students' information-seeking behaviour changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Information Seeking Behaviour of Students in Two Post-Graduate Colleges of District Nasik (Maharashtra): A Survey

The study investigates the information seeking behavior of students in two Post-Graduate Colleges of District Nasik (Maharashtra). The survey covers 272 students of two colleges. The survey reveals that 162 (59.55%) PG respondents admit that library timings 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. are adequate, 131 (48.16%) spent up to 1 hour in the library, 135 (49.63%) visit the library daily, 88 (32.35%) admit quality infrastructure facilities, 124 (45.58%) seek information from their teachers, 130 (47.79%) seek information for covering their class syllabus, 224 (43.75%) use library books, 224 (82.35%) are aware about N-List Program me and OPAC/Web OPAC, 119 (43.75%) not use library resources and services due to lack of time, 118 (43.38%) are satisfied with their library resources and services, 74 (27.20%) respondents perception about library staff is very good.

Are We in-Sync? Students’ Virtual Instructional Experience and Perceived Information Literacy Skills in Time of Pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought a drastic change in the current educational system. While distance learning and online instruction is not really a new concept in the field of education (Kurzman, 2013), it has been intensified with the aim of minimizing physical interactions without jeopardizing the quality of knowledge transfer. The emergence of technology has also implicated changes in the information-seeking behavior of students over time (Oliveira & Greenidge, 2020). Online library orientations and virtual one-shot information literacy (IL) sessions have been in place to supplement virtual classroom instructions by teachers (Lierman & Santiago, 2019). The Nazarbayev University (NU) Library through its Reference Office took action and managed to implement creative ways to conduct online sessions. This paper documented NU students’ virtual library experiences with subject librarians during the pandemic as perceived by students. The 10-item workshop evaluation revealed that students felt very satisfied with the content, coverage, and organization of library sessions. They also highly agreed that the conduct of library sessions was practical, clear, and has an avenue for interaction and development of their IL skills. In a follow-up study with workshop evaluation respondents, a stratified sample size of 101 was determined to identify the current IL skills of students. Students were given the opportunity to conduct a self-assessment of their IL skills. With a 31.68% response rate, the eight-item IL skillset affirmed that students personally believed they were moderate users in searching and evaluating information sources. This paper also determined the frequency of follow-up sessions requested by the students even after attending the online library orientations and IL sessions. Data included in this research was gathered between August 17 to November 27, 2020. To investigate further, an analysis of the reference queries received during the Fall 2020 semester using Reference Analytics was conducted.

Information Needs and Information Seeking Behavior of Students in Federal College of Agriculture Akure, Ondo State

Information Needs and Information Seeking Behavior of Students in Federal College of Agriculture Akure, Ondo State

Information seeking behavior of students: A case study of pyramid college of business and technology

Information generation is widely increasing nowadays with the advent of technology in the modern epoch. To provide this information to the users with the proper authentication and authorization, to fulfill their specific information needs, libraries and information centres need to understand the users' behavior and their requirements towards various kinds of resources. This study is conducted at Pyramid College of Business & Technology, Phagwara. On the basics of the chi-square analysis, it was depicted that all hypotheses were accepted and thus, students are well aware of the available resources in the LRC and they often use these materials for academic purposes. Moreover, information-seeking behavior varies according to various disciplines. This is also found that most of the students are satisfied with the various library resources and services.

Health Information-Seeking Behavior of Students at Kuwait University

This study aimed to investigate the health information-seeking behavior of Kuwait University undergraduates. The study employed a cross-sectional design using a semi-structured, web-based questionnaire. Most students (68.8%) searched for health information. The most common topics that students searched, by search engines, were related to bones, joints, and muscles. Many of the students (34.9%) discussed the health information they obtained on the Internet with physicians/medical specialists to consult health professionals. The study concluded that patients search for medical information from the Internet and that the doctor-patient relationship is influenced by the presence of health information on the Internet.

Health Information Seeking Behaviour Among Students in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

The study investigated the health information-seeking behaviour of students at the Federal University of Technology, Akure in Nigeria. Information resources exploited by university students to meet health information needs were also examined. The study made use of the descriptive survey design, randomly sampling respondents’ opinions on reasons for seeking health information and factors that militate against the effective use of health information. Of 377 respondents, 239 (63.4%) of them were disposed to seeking information on physical fitness or exercise and cold or flu. Newspaper (283 or 75.1%) was identified as respondents’ commonest source of health information. For university students, a major inhibitor of health information seeking outside the library is the high cost of accessing health information for personal use (318 or 84.4%). But within the library, the uncooperative attitude of library personnel (240 or 63.7%) was identified as respondents’ major hindrance in accessing health information in the library. The study recommended adequate provision of health information resources for students’ use and regular library personnel training to improve professional skills required for effective dissemination of health information, particularly to university students. Keywords: information, information need, health information, health information-seeking behaviour, university students, library personnel DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/10-2-03 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

Sharing is caring: Using knowledge management to enhance subject librarian-student contact

This article takes the discipline of knowledge management in organizations and applies it to the academic library setting. Knowledge management studies inefficiencies in information sharing within organizations and proposes solutions. In the academic library, the one-shot library instruction session is largely inadequate in teaching students how to use library databases, particularly for advanced assignments. Follow-up contact such as workshops or individual instruction sessions requires time and initiative from students, and this contact very often does not occur. This denies students the opportunity to experience much of the crucial subject knowledge of the librarian. This kind of unshared subject librarian knowledge corresponds to a key concept of knowledge management called tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge refers to both knowledge that is unshared in an organization as well as knowledge that is difficult to document and transmit. Social media platforms and course software such as LibGuides may offer a solution to enhancing librarian-student teaching, but only if the resource contains a significant amount of previously tacit knowledge (tutorials, links to explanatory reference material, course-specific search strategies, and more). A key goal for librarians should be sharing and making easily accessible previously undocumented subject-specific knowledge. This article evaluates different ways of sharing knowledge using LibGuides and social media, and how well these forms respond to the information-seeking behavior of students.

Information Seeking Behaviour of Undergraduate Students in Digital Environment: A Case Study of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies SSCBS), University of Delhi

Information is required for the overall development of society and it is possible only if information is properly utilized. It can be achieved if library and informational professional understand their patron’s information needs and information seeking behaviour and accordingly manage libraries. Hence an understanding of human information seeking behavior is fundamental to the provision of quality library and information services. Information is vital resource and needed by students at all levels to enhance their academic performance. Students at undergraduate level are not aware of information resources and services and they are overloaded with the information available in the digital environment as they need relevant as well as accurate information. Library users prefer flexibility and convenience and all these factors are contributing towards changes in their information seeking behavior. Keeping these considerations in mind, Survey Method was adopted to assess the information seeking behaviour of students at UG level in Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi as case study to determine the use of major information resources for academic purposes and the general pattern of information seeking behaviour. This study is mainly an analytical and descriptive study based on the response of the students. The random sampling technique is used to collect the data with sample size of 100 questionnaires. Quantitative methods are used in analyzing the data.

Information Seeking Behaviour of Students at Karpagam University, Coimbatore in Digital Environment

This study presents the results of a survey of the information seeking behaviour of students at Karpagam University, Coimbatore. The purpose of the study is to establish the information needs, sources and the information searching strategies of University Students. The study made an effort to determine the sources of accessing e-resources in particular. The study is based on survey method using a self constructed questionnaire, which was randomly circulated to two hundred students, who visited the library. The overall response rate was 64%. It was revealed that less than fifty percent of the respondents were not aware about e-resources. It was found that the students of the university use search engines as a major source to access e-resources for their information needs and for the purpose of updating knowledge on their subjects of interest. In order to overcome the hindrances in accessing the e resources, the study recommends awareness programmes for the students and to provide training on web searching and retrieval skills.

Information seeking behavior of dairy science students: Special reference to KVAFS University Bidar (Karnataka)

This study was undertaken to determine the information seeking behavior of dairy science students at KVAFS University. The overall purpose of the study was to determine what their information requirements and also determine their awareness of library services available to them. From the total population, sample of 500 respondents with different age groups, qualifications, gender, experience and specialization were taken for this study. From the total population of 500, 425 questionnaires were returned duly filled in with response rate of 85% of the total population. Adopting Wilson's information-seeking model (1999) as the theoretical framework, the study identifies factors influencing students ’information behaviour and formulates hypotheses that illustrate the relationship between the different variables. Application of the Critical Incident Technique method provided in-depth data about the patterns of informationseeking behaviour of students. Logistic regression revealed that significant factors related to library awareness, information literacy, organizational and environmental issues, source characteristics, and demographics act as determinants of the patterns of students ’information-seeking behaviour. The collected data were analyzed, classified and tabulated by employing statistical method. The findings revealed that the main information demands that led students into seeking for information are to increase knowledge, preparation to competitive examination (GRF, Net, etc.), preparation for class work. To fulfill these demands maximum students preferred to consult colleague or knowledgeable person in the field. The study finds that test books including reference books and journals are the main sources of information for the students' academic advancement. The users would also like to get information through internet in the library. According to the user's opinion, the users need library orientation programmes and users guides about the use of library to get access to their information easily.

Information Seeking Behaviour of the Students of Hosmat Physiotherapy College Library, Bangalore: A Study

Information is a most vital role for daily needs, Information is vast but not systematic organized in internet. Only librarian will give you value information for the students in right information to right users at right time. Hosmat Physiotherapy College, Bangalore plays a vital role in providing the information to their students. In the present study, the authors have made an attempt to know the information seeking behaviour of the Physiotherapy Students. A structured, questionnaire was used for the collection of data. 150 questionnaires were distributed out of 116 got back majorities of the respondents. Majority of respondents i.e. 346 (33.37%) students visit the physiotherapy library once in a week and only 24 (20.69%) students visit the library many times a Week.