Information Seeking Behavior of the Humanities and Social Science Undergraduates: A Case of University of Colombo

Abstract

This paper discusses the Information Seeking Behavior (ISB) of the Humanities and Social Science (HSS) undergraduates of the University of Colombo with three objectives; to study the information resource usage of the undergraduates, to study the barriers they encounter in seeking and using the information and to study the information seeking process of the undergraduates. A questionnaire and Focus Group Meetings (FGMs) were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data. Convenient Sampling method was used and the response rate was 82% out of 550 questionnaires while 95 attended the FGMs. SPSS (ver. 22) and manual analysis were used to analyze data.Most respondents use Internet instead of library resources and do not use standard criteria to evaluate information. The majority consult their batch mates for help in using information resources. At the same time, most of them have not received any training in using the library resources or Internet. They face several barriers related to library resources, facilities, services and training which prevent them from reaching the library first for their information needs. The processes they follow to search and use information correspond to some other information seeking models. It is recommended that additional research is required to substantiate the gravity of this issue and librarians need to collaborate with the faculty to improve their ISB.

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

“…This result could be matched to the findings of Baro et al. (2010) and Wijetunge (2019). Baro et al.…”

“…(2010) found that undergraduates relied on lecturers for information and friends. Wijuenge (2019) also found that undergraduates relied heavily on friends. UWIlinC, the institution's information portal, was not the first or preferred stop for information for undergraduates.…”

“…, (2010); Oyinloye et al. , (2016); Wijetunge (2019). These researchers found that students in the Humanities relied on lecturers and friends and did not seek information via the Online Public Access Catalogue.…”

“…Several studies have been carried out to investigate information-seeking behaviour to examine the common factors that can predict information-seeking behaviour (Howlader and Islam, 2019; Moore and Singley, 2019; Weaver and Barnard, 2019; Wijetunge, 2019; Bauer, 2018; Allen and Weber, 2014). For example, Wijetunge (2019) looked at the information-seeking behaviour of Humanities and Social Science undergraduates. He noted that most students used the Internet instead of library resources and did not use standard criteria to evaluate information.…”

“…The third question looked at students' frequency of use of information sources. The responses were adopted from Wijetunge (2019) and modified to suit the needs of the present study. This study enumerates the sources of information used by students.…”