Information Behavior of Electrical Engineering and Computing Doctoral Students and Their Perception of the Academic Library’s Role: A Case Study in Croatia

Abstract

Th aim of the paper is to present findings of a study on information sources and information behavior of doctoral students at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. The study also looked into student perceptions of the role of the academic library and their attitudes toward it as a legitimate partner in the research process, as doctoral students are required to publish the results of their doctoral research in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals during their course of study. However, they rarely use the library and its services; the study was undertaken with the intent to obtain insight into the students’ information behavior as well as needs and reasons for overlooking the library as a relevant partner in their research process. The online survey was conducted on a sample of 138 postgraduate students, with semi-structured interviews with five postgraduate students also conducted. The findings show a dominant student orientation towards online sources such as online databases and Google Scholar. Students tend to overlook the library as a relevant information source but have positive attitudes toward librarians (their knowledge, skills and courtesy). The library needs to become more active in promoting its services and, especially in the domain of postgraduate education, needs to be regarded as a necessary location for any serious research work, where librarians are regarded as cooperating partners in the research process. There were a few limitations of the study: respondents were unwilling to dedicate their time to this research and therefore the interviews were too short to examine the topics discussed in-depth, while the sample was extremely homogeneous, making the results only in part transferable to other contexts.

The Role of Academic Librarians in Providing Assistance to Postgraduate Students in the Information-Seeking Process

“…Increased competition from other informa-informacija poput Googlea i Amazona, te smanjeno korištenje online knjižničnog kataloga, promjene u aktivnostima korisnika, njihov angažman i interakcija s knjižnicom i njezinom građom samo su neki od potencijalnih izazova za visokoškolsku knjižnicu (Delaney & Bates, 2015). Dok su nekada knjižnice bile središnje mjesto za znanstvenike koji su tražili informacije i koristili različite alate za pretraživanje i pregledavanje (Ince et al, 2018), prema rezultatima dosadašnjih istraživanja doktorandi u potrazi za informacijama koje su im potrebne za znanstvenoistraživački rad sve rjeđe posjećuju fizički prostor knjižnice (Biaz et al, 2014;Drachen et al, 2011;Vezzosi, 2009) Iako je velik broj znanstvenih istraživanja utvrdio da doktorandi za akademske svrhe preferiraju elektroničke časopise i baze podataka na koje je njihova knjižnica pretplaćena (British Library & JISC, 2012;Delaney & Bates, 2018;Drachen et al, 2011;Fleming-May & Yuro, 2009;Haglund & Olsson, 2008;Jamali & Nicholas, 2007;Sheeja, 2010;Vezzosi, 2009), neki nisu ni svjesni da im je upravo knjižnica omogućila pristup tim izvorima (Bøyum & Aabø, 2015;British Library & JISC, 2012;Haglund & Olsson, 2008;Petr Balog et al, 2018). Zbog učestalog korištenja internetskih tražilica, društvenih medija te besplatno dostupnih cjelovitih tekstova znanstvenih radova postupno se smanjuje važnost i baza podataka, dostupnih putem institucijske ili nacionalne pretplate, te knjižničnih zbirki pa na taj način korisnici zaobilaze izravni kontakt s knjižničarem (Grigas et al, 2016;Ince et al, 2018;Jamali & Asadi, 2010;Rowlands et al, 2008).…”

“…U današnjem informacijskom okruženju traženje informacija više nije vezano za fizičke prostore pa pristup informacijama rijetko predstavlja problem, ali je pitanje kako tražiti, pronaći, vrednovati i koristiti relevantne informacije. Poslijediplomski studij zahtijeva mnogo samostalnog istraživačkog rada i tek tijekom tog procesa doktorandi postaju svjesni važnosti pronalaženja relevantnih informacijskih izvora (Petr Balog et al, 2018) koji uključuju i druge ljude, prije svega mentore i druge profesore s poslijediplomskog studija, ali i visokoškolske knjižničare, kolege i prijatelje, koji igraju važnu ulogu osobito na početku istraživačkog procesa (Catalano, 2013;George et al, 2006). Iako dosadašnja istraživanja pokazuju da doktorandi sve rjeđe posjećuju fizički prostor knjižnice, knjižnično osoblje može pridonijeti razvijanju njihovih vještina informacijske pismenosti te im pružiti nezamjenjivu podršku u istraživačkom procesu (Delaney & Bates, 2018;Drachen et al, 2011;Fleming-May & Yuro, 2009;Haglund & Olsson, 2008;Jamali & Nicholas, 2007;Petr Balog et al, 2018).…”

“…Poslijediplomski studij zahtijeva mnogo samostalnog istraživačkog rada i tek tijekom tog procesa doktorandi postaju svjesni važnosti pronalaženja relevantnih informacijskih izvora (Petr Balog et al, 2018) koji uključuju i druge ljude, prije svega mentore i druge profesore s poslijediplomskog studija, ali i visokoškolske knjižničare, kolege i prijatelje, koji igraju važnu ulogu osobito na početku istraživačkog procesa (Catalano, 2013;George et al, 2006). Iako dosadašnja istraživanja pokazuju da doktorandi sve rjeđe posjećuju fizički prostor knjižnice, knjižnično osoblje može pridonijeti razvijanju njihovih vještina informacijske pismenosti te im pružiti nezamjenjivu podršku u istraživačkom procesu (Delaney & Bates, 2018;Drachen et al, 2011;Fleming-May & Yuro, 2009;Haglund & Olsson, 2008;Jamali & Nicholas, 2007;Petr Balog et al, 2018). Doktorandi su specifična skupina korisnika (znanstvenici, mladi istraživači i studenti), izrazito heterogena s obzirom na velike razlike u dobi, iskustvu i vještinama kao i s različitim istraživačkim fokusom (Coverdale et al, 2011).…”

“…Postgraduate studies require a lot of independent research work. It's during this process that postgraduate students become aware of the importance of finding relevant information sources (Petr Balog et al, 2018). These sources include other people, primarily mentors and other professors from postgraduate studies, but also academic librarians, colleagues, and friends who play a crucial role, especially at the beginning of the research process (Catalano, 2013;George et al, 2006).…”

“…These sources include other people, primarily mentors and other professors from postgraduate studies, but also academic librarians, colleagues, and friends who play a crucial role, especially at the beginning of the research process (Catalano, 2013;George et al, 2006). While existing research indicates that postgraduate students are visiting the physical library spaces less frequently, library staff can contribute to developing their information literacy skills and provide invaluable support during the research process (Delaney & Bates, 2018;Drachen et al, 2011;Fleming-May & Yuro, 2009;Haglund & Olsson, 2008;Jamali & Nicholas, 2007;Petr Balog et al, 2018). Postgraduate students are a specific user group (scientists, young researchers, and students), highly diverse in terms of age, experience, skills, and different research focuses (Coverdale et al, 2011).…”