Speaking Out: International Doctoral Students’ Information Needs, Seeking Behaviors, Feelings, and Experience during the Process of Applying for Graduate Study in the US

Libri ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Min Huang ◽  
Dania Bilal

Abstract International student enrollment in US colleges and universities benefits the US economy in many ways and increases diversity on campus While much research on international students exist, we know very little about the experiences of international doctoral students. In this study, we explored the information needs, seeking behaviors, feelings, and overall experiences of 33 international doctoral students during the process of applying for doctoral study in the US. We used in-depth interviews and a questionnaire to collect the data. Findings show that the students used Experiential Resources (EXR) and Authorized Resources (AUR) to meet their information needs. Students faced issues and challenges in using university and academic programs websites and had negative feelings about the application process. Students made several suggestions for enhancing their experiences, including making websites more usable. The findings have implications for improving the usability of websites and for providing better services to support the students’ information needs and information seeking behaviors.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian D. Gordon ◽  
Brian D. Cameron ◽  
Debbie Chaves ◽  
Rebecca Hutchinson

Mathematicians in academic institutions utilize a variety of resources and strategies to seek, find, and use scholarly information and news. Using a sample of mathematicians, researchers surveyed 112 students and faculty at four Canadian university institutions to explore self-perceived success rates, resources consulted, databases used, use of social media, and citation management systems. Further, 12 follow-up interviews were completed with mathematicians to better interpret survey results, resulting information-seeking behaviors, choices, strategies, and feelings on keeping up to date with information needs. According to survey results, a minority of mathematicians (12.5 percent) acknowledged that they were successfully keeping up to date. However, a significant number of mathematicians (28.6 percent) indicated that they were unsuccessful and could do better in remaining current with information needs. Co-investigators, using qualitative analyses, identified four emergent themes related to remaining current: (1) The “slower pace of math” pervades all aspects of this discipline;” (2) There are “too many papers – and not enough time” to effectively search, evaluate, and read scholarly papers of interest; (3) Mathematicians collectively acknowledge that they are open to strategies and technologies where they “could do better” keeping up to date; and (4) Mathematicians have divided loyalties using databases when searching for information by means of “MathSciNet in a Google world.” Additional insights document how mathematicians are guided by mathematical peculiarities and discipline-specific practices. This study helps to shed light on opportunities for academic librarians to identify and meet mathematicians’ evolving information needs. Keywords: Mathematicians, information-seeking behaviors, information needs, information sources, graduate students, faculty, academic (university) libraries, knowledge management


Author(s):  
Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari

This chapter discusses the role of integrating medical education with medical practice through online collaborative learning among the various stakeholders involved with healthcare education and practice. It elaborates the discussion with examples of information needs and information-seeking behaviors of patients and physicians. The role of the Internet (infrastructure), and especially the WWW (applications and content), is elucidated with respect to the concepts of online collaborative learning as applied to medical education and practice where the emphasis is on user driven healthcare. “


Author(s):  
Grace Ukasoanya

With an increase in precarity globally, there is a need to emphasize proactive self-management of the PhD process for international doctoral students. They may better manage their PhD training journeys if approached as a quest for life career construction. This chapter contributes to research that situates PhD training experience in self-construction of career. The author highlights the self-work that international doctoral students undertake as they construct life careers through a PhD process. She concludes that international doctoral students begin to design their careers from the PhD application process and continue throughout the space and span of the training. She recommends that the counseling field explore different ways to use self and career design approaches to develop self-management orientation resources for international doctoral students.


1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. D'Alessandro ◽  
Bao C. Nguyen ◽  
Donna M. D'Alessandro

Author(s):  
Idris Guclu ◽  
Ali Can

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the information-seeking behaviors of police officers who work in police stations in the context of staying current. Leckie et al.’s (1996) model of the information-seeking behavior of professionals is tested. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative research design was employed for data collection. The sample includes 642 cases. It is both descriptive and exploratory. Findings – Police officers first rely upon their personal knowledge and experience, then their colleagues and then official documents. On the other hand, they rarely consulted informants, libraries, journals, books, and attendance at conferences as information sources. There were significant differences in the information sources used by police officers based on their gender in the context of staying current. Lastly, the results of this study indicated that service years in policing and the roles in police station were significantly correlated with the information sources used by police officers regarding staying current. Originality/value – This study, being the first, provides a huge theoretical base for future studies. It contributes to the discipline of information science by validating a theoretical model in a different context. In addition, it contributes to public safety by understanding the frontline police officers’ information needs and information-seeking behavior.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1008-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti Mikael Rousi ◽  
Reijo Savolainen ◽  
Maaria Harviainen ◽  
Pertti Vakkari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of situational relevance of music information from a performing musician’s point of view by delving into its diverse layers within the context of Doctor of Music students’ information seeking. Design/methodology/approach Music-related information is approached through six modes that categorize music information sources based on their levels of abstraction. Situational relevance of the modes of music information is examined in relation to the situational requirements of accomplishing a dissertation on music task consisting of both a series of concerts and a written thesis. The empirical material was collected by interviewing Finnish doctoral students in the field of music performance. Findings A set of situational relevance types related to each mode of music information were identified. As a whole, the differences between the perceived importance of the modes varied a little. Research limitations/implications The goal of the present paper is not to create a generalizable list of situational relevance types suggested by modes of music information, but to show that the modes may suggest diverse situational relevance types of their own when evaluated by performing musicians. Originality/value The present paper provides a rare account on performing musicians’ vocational and school-related information seeking. For studies of music information retrieval, the present paper offers new contextual facets explaining why diverse music information could be relevant to musicians. For studies of music-related information seeking, the present study offers new insights on why performing musicians have information needs regarding certain types of music information sources.


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