Information-Seeking Behaviour of First-Year Undergraduate Students at Mzuzu University, Malawi

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Theodore Chipeta ◽  
Gift Alfred, B Dube ◽  
Winner D Chawinga ◽  
Lizzie Malemia ◽  
Maloto Green Chaura
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Science ◽  
First Year ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Ict Infrastructure ◽  
Source Of Information

The paper presents a study that examined the information-seeking behaviour of first-year undergraduate students at Mzuzu University, Malawi, by focusing on three research objectives, namely the information needs of first-year undergraduate students, the predominant sources of information for first-year undergraduate students, and information-seeking barriers of first-year undergraduate students. The study stratified the sample into five faculties and distributed questionnaires with a mix of closed-ended and open-ended questions to 215 first-year undergraduate students. According to the study findings, 135 (62.7%) students who returned the questionnaires predominantly need information for academic work such as assignments, test and examinations. The predominant sources of information used by students are library books, lecture notes or handouts, and text books assigned to the course with scores of 100 (74%), 98 (72.6%) and 63 (46.7%) respectively. The study concludes that as much as library books are the main source of information, the unavailability of relevant books, poor Internet connectivity, students’ lack of computer and search skills, frequent power outages, and underdeveloped ICT infrastructure including low Internet bandwidth, were found to be the inhibiting factors that students faced in accessing and using some information resources at Mzuzu University. Mzuzu University can mitigate some of these challenges by investing in ICT infrastructure and through the department of Library and Information Science and the library working collaboratively in teaching information literacy to students.

Triggers and strategies related to the collaborative information-seeking behaviour of researchers in ResearchGate

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1077-1096
Author(s):  
Sanam Ebrahimzadeh ◽  
Saeed Rezaei Sharifabadi ◽  
Masoumeh Karbala Aghaie Kamran ◽  
Kimiz Dalkir
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Collaborative Information Seeking

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the triggers, strategies and outcomes of collaborative information-seeking behaviours of researchers on the ResearchGate social networking site.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from the population of researchers who use ResearchGate. The sample was limited to the Ph.D. students and assistant professors in the library and information science domain. Qualitative interviews were used for data collection.FindingsBased on the findings of the study, informal communications and complex information needs lead to a decision to use collaborative information-seeking behaviour. Also, easy access to sources of information and finding relevant information were the major positive factors contributing to collaborative information-seeking behaviour of the ResearchGate users. Users moved from collaborative Q&A strategies to sharing information, synthesising information and networking strategies based on their needs. Analysis of information-seeking behaviour showed that ResearchGate users bridged the information gap by internalizing new knowledge, making collaborative decisions and increasing their work's visibility.Originality/valueAs one of the initial studies on the collaborative information-seeking behaviour of ResearchGate users, this study provides a holistic picture of different triggers that affect researchers' information-seeking on ResearchGate.

scholarly journals COVID-19 information seeking and utilization among library and information science professionals in Nigeria

IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110315
Author(s):  
Esharenana E Adomi ◽  
Gloria O Oyovwe-Tinuoye
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
World Health ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Test Procedures

Like many countries, Nigeria’s library services were affected by COVID-19. This study (conducted in 2020) examined the priorities and barriers for information seeking and use by library and information science professionals in Nigeria, including what type of information was sought, the sources used and how these were evaluated. An online survey, with questions informed by a literature survey, was sent to library and information science professionals in Nigeria with WhatsApp accounts (individual and library and information science group accounts). The responses were automatically collected and saved into Google Sheets for further analysis using descriptive statistics. There were 167 responses (61% response rate). The main information needs were causes of the virus, COVID-19 symptoms, providing library services during physical library closure, the timing of reopening, and staff and user safety measures required for library reopening. The respondents were also concerned about COVID-19 test procedures and transmission mechanisms, treatment (including herbal medicines), vaccines, government policy and restrictions on movement. The main information sources used were the Internet (including government and World Health Organization websites), social media, television and radio. The authority, reliability, currency and relevance of the information were considered when evaluating COVID-19 information consulted, and were using the information primarily to ‘keep safe’ in accordance with government regulations, to provide library services on time and to plan for safe reopening. The barriers to information seeking and use were technical (poor telecommunications), financial (lack of funds to purchase resources) and physical (library closures). One barrier was the volume of information (both reliable and unreliable). Verification was viewed as important but seemingly difficult to do. The respondents were concerned about the safe and effective operation of library services. Library and information science professionals in Nigeria may need advice from health professionals on the most reliable sources of information on COVID-19 and how to use them for themselves and their users.

scholarly journals A Pilot Study Examining the Information Seeking of Fiction Writers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arielle VanderSchans
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Early Step ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Fiction Writers

This paper explores the information-seeking behaviours of fiction writers through a pilot study using an online survey. The information-seeking behaviour of fiction writers has been understudied, with the focus in Library and Information Science research falling predominantly on readership and publishing. This study represents an early step in exploring creativity and serendipity’s role in the information-seeking habits of storytellers.

scholarly journals INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SOME SELECT COLLEGE LIBRARIES OF KARBI ANGLONG AND BISWANATH DISTRICTS OF ASSAM: A STUDY

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kishore Basumatary
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Parent Institution ◽  
College Libraries ◽  
College Now ◽  
Types Of Information

Libraries in a college are designed and built with the primary objective of meeting the information needs of the students of their parent Institution. In an institution like college, libraries are constructed with a view to help the students for their all-round development. It can help the students in acquiring knowledge for building their character, thinking, and for passing the examinations. It can also help the students to know the unknown things, to make the person strong through acquiring required knowledge and to help in fulfilling their aim in life. So, libraries can play an important role in students’ life by supplying any type of knowledge they want through different techniques and ways. A library is said to be the heart of the institution. Now-a-days, without a suitable well-organized library, the college is not recognized by the concerned university. In every inspection of a college, the library is inspected by the inspection committee and after satisfied they will recommend for recognition of that particular college. Now, in a college, we know that there are different types of students coming to the libraries seeking different types of information. That means they need different types of information to fulfill their needs. Here, this study is undertaken to investigate the different types of information seeking behaviour of the students by taking some five college libraries of Assam. The overall purpose of this study is to find out the different types of information seeking behaviour of the students and to determine awareness of the students about the library service available to them.

scholarly journals PERILAKU PENCARIAN INFORMASI MAHASISWA DALAM MEMENUHI KEBUTUHAN INFORMASI SEBELUM DAN SAAT PANDEMI COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Muhammmad Nurfadillah ◽  
Ardiansah Ardiansah
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Search For Information ◽  
Virus Spreading

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought changes to every aspect of life, one of which is education. Due to these circumstances, conventional learning has turned into online learning to avoid potential virus-spreading in university clusters, and UPI Library and Information Science 2019 students must follow the policy. The study aims to determine the information-seeking behavior of university students in meeting their information needs and differences in information-seeking behavior before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study method uses a descriptive quantitative research method. The sample of this research is students who experience two types of learning, conventional learning (in the classroom) and long-distance learning (online class). The results of this study indicate that there are differences in information-seeking behavior of UPI Library and Information Science 2019 students before and during the Covid-19 pandemic both in terms of motivation, place, sources, strategies, and obstacles in finding information. This is shown from the percentages of respondents' answers that show a decrease in physical activity such as visiting the library and a decrease in the use of printed media in finding information during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the use of electronic and online-based media to search for information such as e-journal catalogs is increasing, and the use of electronic information sources has also increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Role of social media in information-seeking behaviour of international students

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 643-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suraya Hamid ◽  
Sarah Bukhari ◽  
Sri Devi Ravana ◽  
Azah Anir Norman ◽  
Mohamad Taha Ijab
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
International Students ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
The Social ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Source Of Information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the information-seeking behaviour of international students in terms of their information needs and to highlight the role of social media. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a systematic literature survey was conducted in order to investigate information-seeking trends among international students while using social media. As a result, an exhaustive systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out in order to investigate social media as a source for the observation of the behaviours of international students. For this purpose, 71 articles were selected from various well-known sources after an intensive SLR process of searching, filtering and enforcing the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Findings As an outcome of this study, the information-seeking behaviour of international students was highlighted with respect to social media as a source of information. In addition, this research identifies the information needs of the international students and categorizes them by the roles played by the social media in fulfilling the information needs. Practical implications A comparative study that highlighted the dearth of studies which merge the social media and information-seeking behaviour of international students as well as identify the future direction for the researchers and for benefits of international students. Originality/value A detail SLR which highlights the need of shifting the information seeking behaviour from libraries to social media in regard to the new environment for international students.

Krikelas' Model of Information Seeking Behavior (1983)

2015 ◽  
pp. 82-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarika Sawant
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
External Source ◽  
Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Tools And Techniques

Over the period of four decades plenty of information seeking behavior models have been presented by many researchers. James Krikelas (1983) was the first to develop an information seeking model derived from published Library and Information Science (LIS) literature about information needs and uncertainty. The present chapter discusses the Krikelas model, the researcher's views of the model and the empirical studies that implemented it. The Krikelas model can be reassessed considering the advances taking place in today's online environment. The internal and external source preferences which are important part of the model have taken new form. The advanced online tools and techniques can help the researcher in capturing information, organizing and eventually collaborating with others to fulfill the information giving and gathering process. Further studies are recommended to redesign the Krikelas model considering new possibilities with the addition of feedback at the end.

The information-seeking behaviour of Kuwaiti judges

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-485
Author(s):  
Essam Mansour ◽  
Husain Ghuloum
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Current Events

The key purpose of this study is to show the information-seeking behaviour of Kuwaiti judges. Being one of the few studies about the information needs and information-seeking behaviour conducted in Arab and developing countries, this study is a pioneer one among many studies conducted in information seeking, especially with this significant group of information users. The authors tried to investigate this seeking behavior in terms of Kuwaiti judges’ thoughts, perceptions, motivations, techniques, preferences, tools and barriers met when seeking information. The authors employed a questionnaire, with a response rate of 77.2%. This study showed that most Kuwaiti judges were likely to be older, educated and with a work experience ranging from new to old. There was a statistically reliable significant difference between Kuwaiti judges’ demographic characteristics and some sources of information, such as books, encyclopedias, references and mass media. Kuwaiti judges were using information moderately to make decisions, to be in line with current events, to collect statistics and to do specific/general research. The office and home were the most frequent location from which Kuwaiti judges were accessing information. Their efficiency level in the English language was described to be moderately good, and a number of them confirmed that their efficiency level in French was not bad. The assistance provided by colleagues, followed by consultants, translators, secretaries and librarians were found to be the strongest types of assistance needed when seeking information. Mobile apps, followed by PCs, information networks (the Internet) and information databases were the highest technology tool used. Printed materials, followed by non-printed and audiovisual materials were the most preferred information formats used. The use of languages, the recency of information and the place of information, the deficit in the library’s role to deliver information were at least significant barriers to Kuwaiti judges when seeking information.

scholarly journals Information-Seeking Behaviour of Women Regarding Household Health and Hygiene Practices

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Loveleen Kaur ◽  
Sukhjeet Kaur ◽  
Preeti Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Family Type ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Hygiene Practices ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Mass Media Exposure ◽  
Relationship Of

Background: Inadequate health and hygiene practices have direct effect on health of the individual, family, communities and nation as a whole. The knowledge about different health and hygiene practices depends largely upon the sources from where we regularly get information. Women tend to be the primary health information seekers for family and for themselves. Therefore there is a need to study their information seeking behaviours. Aim: The present study was conducted with the objectives to identify the information-seeking behaviour of women regarding household health and hygiene practices, and to ascertain the relationship of information-seeking behaviour of women with their household and socio-economic characteristics. Methodology: The study was conducted in Ludhiana district of Punjab. Two blocks and two zones were selected purposively from Ludhiana district. Further two villages from each block and two localities from each zone were selected randomly. Twenty five women from each selected village as well as from each locality in the age of 25-50 years were selected on random basis. Thus, a total of 200 women formed the sample for the study and data was collected with the help of an interview schedule. Results: Information-seeking behaviour was studied in terms of information needs, use of information source and information source evaluation. Findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents i.e. 59 per cent had low information needs for selected household health and hygiene practices. Informal sources were the most frequently used sources of information whereas use of all information sources by most of the respondents (98%) was found to be low. Around 40 per cent of the respondents never evaluate the source of information while looking for information on household health and hygiene practices. Half of the respondents (50%) had active information-seeking behaviour regarding household health and hygiene practices. Conclusion: Information-seeking behaviour of the respondents was positively correlated with their education, occupation and mass media exposure while age of the respondents and the family type were negatively correlated with their information-seeking behaviour.

An explanatory study into the information seeking-behaviour of Egyptian beggars

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Essam Mansour
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Demographic Group ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Role Of Information

The key purpose of this study is to provide first-hand information about beggars in Egypt, especially from the perspective of their information-seeking behaviour including their information needs. It tries to investigate the information-seeking behaviour of Egyptian beggars with regard to their thoughts, perceptions, motivations, attitudes, habits, preferences as well as challenges that may impede their use of information. The research methods used were an adapted form of snowball sampling of a heterogeneous demographic group of participants in the beggary activity in Egypt. This sampling was used to select focus groups to explore a range of relevant issues. Data on the demographic characteristics of Egyptian beggars showed that they tend to be men, mostly with no formal education, with an average age around 30s, labelled as low-income persons, mostly single and mostly Muslims. A large number of Egyptian beggars were seeking for information to meet their basic daily needs, although some of them were not able to identify their information needs clearly. The information-seeking behaviour profile of a very large number of Egyptian beggars indicated a preference for informal sources of information over formal sources to solve different problems and meet the challenges faced during their beggary depending on assistive devices, predominantly mobile phones. The illiteracy and the lack of awareness about the basic rights of information as well as information needs were the most important difficulties Egyptian beggars face during accessing information. The study recommended that beggars’ awareness about their information rights should be promoted through educational programs that help them value the role of information in their life.

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