The Importance of Health Information Seeking Among Diabetes Patients in Malaysia: A Preliminary Observation

The sharing of health information by educating patients and encouraging them to seek relevant information is one of the main strategies in disease prevention. By evaluating patient's information seeking behaviour and identifying the health information seeking trends, it is possible to establish effective techniques to deliver the necessary information to the patients to enhance their self-management skills. It is critical to keep people informed about effective preventative techniques that can control their disease progression. Thus, this study aimed to highlight the role and importance of health information seeking behaviour among people with diabetes in Malaysia.

Awareness of Ebola Virus Disease and Information Seeking Behaviour of Rural Dwellers in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: The study investigated the awareness of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and information seeking behaviour of rural dwellers in Nigeria. Methods: The survey type of the descriptive research design was used in conducting the study and the study group comprised adult rural dwellers (18 years and above) residing in six communities (Peretoru, Ekeremor, Obrigbene, Enougbene, Amabulou, and Aya-ama) in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. Data were collected from 600 respondents who were randomly selected from the six communities. The data from the study were then analysed using frequency count and percentages. The results were presented in charts (and graphs). Results: The study revealed that rural dwellers possess low awareness of EVD and many of them do not bother to seek EVD information because they do not believe it exists. Conclusion: Consequently, the study noted the need for the federal government to enhance structures that promote community engagements, especially at the time of the epidemic.

The factors that influence a lawyer’s use of and ability to develop effective electronic information seeking behaviour

<p>Research Problem: The purpose of this research was to discover the factors that influence a New Zealand lawyer’s use of and ability to develop effective electronic information seeking behaviour. There have been no previous studies undertaken in New Zealand to understand the cognitive reasons and the reasons directly related to the resources themselves that impact on why lawyers do, or do not look for information effectively from electronic resources. Methodology: A phenomenological study design was used in order to understand an event from the viewpoint of the participants. Nine New Zealand lawyers participated, providing demographic information and taking part in semi-structured interviews. In addition two of these lawyers took part in a further participant observation. Results: The results indicated that factors personal to the applicant such as their previous training, electronic experience, personality and age have an impact on their ability to develop effective electronic information seeking behaviour. In addition external factors such as cost, time and lack of access directly related to electronic resources also have an impact. Implications: Based on the findings of this report it was found that electronic resources were considered to be an important part of a lawyer’s work and gaining increasing significance. However not all lawyers have the ability to make full use of these electronic resources. Therefore it is important that lawyers are provided with the opportunity to undertake appropriate training and to access high quality electronic resources. Further study needs to be undertaken to look at strategies and training methods required by lawyers and their employers to improve these skills.</p>

The factors that influence a lawyer’s use of and ability to develop effective electronic information seeking behaviour

<p>Research Problem: The purpose of this research was to discover the factors that influence a New Zealand lawyer’s use of and ability to develop effective electronic information seeking behaviour. There have been no previous studies undertaken in New Zealand to understand the cognitive reasons and the reasons directly related to the resources themselves that impact on why lawyers do, or do not look for information effectively from electronic resources. Methodology: A phenomenological study design was used in order to understand an event from the viewpoint of the participants. Nine New Zealand lawyers participated, providing demographic information and taking part in semi-structured interviews. In addition two of these lawyers took part in a further participant observation. Results: The results indicated that factors personal to the applicant such as their previous training, electronic experience, personality and age have an impact on their ability to develop effective electronic information seeking behaviour. In addition external factors such as cost, time and lack of access directly related to electronic resources also have an impact. Implications: Based on the findings of this report it was found that electronic resources were considered to be an important part of a lawyer’s work and gaining increasing significance. However not all lawyers have the ability to make full use of these electronic resources. Therefore it is important that lawyers are provided with the opportunity to undertake appropriate training and to access high quality electronic resources. Further study needs to be undertaken to look at strategies and training methods required by lawyers and their employers to improve these skills.</p>

Library Use and Information-Seeking Behaviour of Academics at Lincoln University

<p>Academics are an important user group for their university libraries. Academic libraries are trying very hard to balance limited funding and users’ needs, especially while the information-seeking behaviour of academics is being changed by electronic resources. This study was undertaken to discover the information-seeking behaviour of academics and their use of the library at Lincoln University of New Zealand. The results from this study will be useful to enhance the collection development and prioritise programs and services to meet academics’ needs more effectively. An online survey was used for this study. All academics from the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Faculty of Commerce and the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design were selected and 49 academics responded. The results indicated that a great number of academics depend on libraries for getting information. Academics are facing a big problem regarding the lack of time to obtain information. They also display great interest in using online journal articles and printed books from Lincoln University Library. However, academics are not interested in using the latest tools, such as smart phones, e-Pads etc. It was also established that academics from different disciplines have a very similar information-seeking behaviours. In addition, academics are satisfied with the library resources and services but they do not use it as much as they recommend it to students. Finally, academics have little contact with library staff. Based on these findings, it was recommended that library resources should continue to have both electronic resources and printed resources. Librarians and library systems must do better to improve the time lost in information-seeking by academics. There is a need to improve the communication and collaboration between librarians and academics to encourage academics to use more library resources in their teaching, and librarians should encourage academics to learn the latest information-seeking tools and skills, as well as promote the library services and resources more.</p>

Library Use and Information-Seeking Behaviour of Academics at Lincoln University

<p>Academics are an important user group for their university libraries. Academic libraries are trying very hard to balance limited funding and users’ needs, especially while the information-seeking behaviour of academics is being changed by electronic resources. This study was undertaken to discover the information-seeking behaviour of academics and their use of the library at Lincoln University of New Zealand. The results from this study will be useful to enhance the collection development and prioritise programs and services to meet academics’ needs more effectively. An online survey was used for this study. All academics from the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Faculty of Commerce and the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design were selected and 49 academics responded. The results indicated that a great number of academics depend on libraries for getting information. Academics are facing a big problem regarding the lack of time to obtain information. They also display great interest in using online journal articles and printed books from Lincoln University Library. However, academics are not interested in using the latest tools, such as smart phones, e-Pads etc. It was also established that academics from different disciplines have a very similar information-seeking behaviours. In addition, academics are satisfied with the library resources and services but they do not use it as much as they recommend it to students. Finally, academics have little contact with library staff. Based on these findings, it was recommended that library resources should continue to have both electronic resources and printed resources. Librarians and library systems must do better to improve the time lost in information-seeking by academics. There is a need to improve the communication and collaboration between librarians and academics to encourage academics to use more library resources in their teaching, and librarians should encourage academics to learn the latest information-seeking tools and skills, as well as promote the library services and resources more.</p>

Changes in Air Pollution-Related Behaviour Measured by Google Trends Search Volume Index in Response to Reported Air Quality in Poland

Decreased air quality is connected to an increase in daily mortality rates. Thus, people’s behavioural response to sometimes elevated air pollution levels is vital. We aimed to analyse spatial and seasonal changes in air pollution-related information-seeking behaviour in response to nationwide reported air quality in Poland. Google Trends Search Volume Index data was used to investigate Poles’ interest in air pollution-related keywords. PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations measured across Poland between 2016 and 2019 as well as locations of monitoring stations were collected from the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection databases. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients were used to measure the strength of spatial and seasonal relationships between reported air pollution levels and the popularity of search queries. The highest PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were observed in southern voivodeships and during the winter season. Similar trends were observed for Poles’ interest in air pollution-related keywords. Greater interest in air quality data in Poland strongly correlates with both higher regional and higher seasonal air pollution levels. It appears that Poles are socially aware of this issue and that their intensification of the information-seeking behaviour seems to indicate a relevant ad hoc response to variable threat severity levels.

Information Seeking Behaviour of the Users of Academic Libraries

This study offers a critical review of selected studies. A point of departure is the focus on the methodology used and the related issue of whether the inferences drawn are justified by the methodologies used. This is thus meant to be potentially useful for researchers in the broad area of information –seeking behaviour of the users in a digital environment. Eleven studies were selected for a deeper understanding of their users’ information needs and information-seeking behaviour and to make suggestions on how to enhance the effectiveness of library services and their efficient utilisation. The libraries selected for the present study are diverse–college libraries, university libraries, public libraries and a Government Department library. Our review is based on the results obtained through critical study and examination of the literature with the main focus on the Information Seeking Behaviour of the users. There is a diverse range of libraries and users covered by these studies, and several interesting hypotheses could be statistically validated. Without statistical validation of hypotheses, the inferences lack robustness. This is a striking weakness of the extant literature-including the sample examined here. However, some constructive suggestions are made. These include a focus on special libraries, methodological extensions and refinements, and a broadening of the hypotheses and validation of inferences. We believe our review fulfils an important gap as scant attention is given to analytical rigour.