Table 8: Type of E-Mail used by the students. S. No. Type of ... followed by 56 (32.18 %) respondents are using yahoo mail, 26 (14.95 %) respondents are using.
Information Needs and Information – Seeking Behaviour of Users with Special Reference To Seva Rathna Vallalrck College of Engineering, Chennai, (TN), India- A Survey
C.VELMURUGAN* *Librarian, Seva Rathna VallalRCK College of Engineering, Chennai- 601 103, Tamilnadu, India and Dr. N. RADHAKRISHNAN** **Associate Professor, Department of Library and Information Science Periyar University, Salem- 636 011, Tamilnadu, India INTRODUCTION In the recent day, there is drastic change in the user’s behaviour for gathering information. The modern age is the age of information and knowledge revolution where it is very intricate to know what all is available on a particular topic or subject relevant to the users’ need. Information seeking behaviour is the way in which the user goes about seeking and obtaining information. Studies of information seeking behaviour are mostly based on questionnaire method by an interview. According to Girija kumar, ‘the information seeking bahaviour is mainly concerned with who needs what kind of information and for what reasons, how information is found evaluated and used, and how their needs can be identified and satisfied. CONCEPT OF INFORMATION AND USER Information is considered as multifaceted and multi dimensional entity. According to the concise dictionary tenth edition, information has been defined as ‘‘Facts or knowledge provided or learned as a result of research or study’’. The information is the basic need of the society always but at no point of time, it has played such a crucial role as it is playing today. A rapid change world, information needs of learners and knowledge seekers have met plethora of sources. Information is considered as an important resource that contributes towards the development of a nation1. It provides the core for the development of knowledge, the basis for innovations, the resources for informed citizenry, and as a result, becomes a key commodity for the progress of a society. In the present scenario, information is considered as a useful commodity for routine life. For any thing and every thing information is required2. This
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
information is available in various sources. Libraries serve as3 a center for providing right information to the right people at all times. The new information technology has enabled the library and information centers to change their mode of service from traditional to internet based services. Hence, it can be concluded that information can be stored, processed and retrieved for use and it can be communicated the change in the recipient and it reduces uncertainty. The user is the most important component in the information cycle. In order to maximize the use of library resources, surveys and case studies are to be undertaken to ascertain the user’s information requirements and their information seeking behaviour survey of user’s needs help in finding out the most effective means of meeting their requirements. CONCEPT OF INFORMATION NEED The concept of information needs was coined by an American information journalist Robert S. Taylor in his article "The Process of Asking Questions" published in American Documentation (Now is Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology). Information need is an individual or group's desire to locate and obtain information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need. The ‘information’ and ‘need’ in ‘information need’ are an inseparable interconnection. Needs and interests call forth information. The objectives of studying information needs are: 1. The explanation of observed phenomena of information use or expressed need; 2. The prediction of instances of information uses; 3. The control and thereby improvement of the utilization of information manipulation of essentials conditions. Information needs are related to, but distinct from information requirements. An example is that a need is hunger; the requirement is food. CONCEPT OF INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOR The term ‘information seeking behaviour’, ‘information searching behaviour’, and ‘information using behaviour’, is synonymous terms. The behaviour includes user’s attitude and approach towards information gathering. Many research studies evaluated the relation between students and their behaviour towards seeking knowledge. There are several factors, which have affected on students’ bahaviour significantly. These factors might include, timeliness of information presented, awareness of the sources of information, ability to use information access tools, surrounding environment, cultural impact, self-evaluation and intuition. In view of various studies, an important question raises that there is a big gap between students and their information’s behaviour regarding information seeking. According to Hancock- Beaulieu4 (1989), the findings in information behaviour of students has traditionally been reached at the
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
summit that there must be a bridge to recover the gap between students and their information’s behaviour. Wilson5 (1999), “Information behaviour may be defined as the more common field of investigation, particularly concerned with the variety of methods people employ to discover”. However, different scholars give different philosophies regarding that concept but our research gives us an idea that the most important one is the education system, which has great effect, and captures almost 70% of the mental ability to absorb the things that leads towards student’s behaviour. Mohamed Esmail and Uma6 (1983) defines Information seeking behaviour as “the field composed of a study that are concerned with who needs what kind of information and for what reason, how information is found, evaluated and used and how these needs can be identified and satisfied”. SRVRCK College Central Library: A Brief Note Seva Rathna VallalRCK College of Engineering, (formerly known as Siva Institute of Frontier Technology (SIFT) College) is ideally located at Vengal Village near Periyapalayam, Thiruvallur District, Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is affiliated with Anna University, Chennai, and accredited by AICTE. The college opened in 2010 with seven U.G. departments and One MBA (P.G.) department. The college was originally in Thiruvallur. At this juncture the students ought to learn the various resources and services and need to be aware of on how to utilize the information in right manner. The Central Library that is the main library which is situated in the separate building named Library Block. In the ground floor, UG Library in which the collection area of the library is quite large which include the individual cabin of the Property counter, periodicals back volumes area, newspapers reading room and cabins for the Chief Documentation Officer, Assistant librarians etc. and rooms for specific collection such as reference books and other secret documents etc. In the first floor, separate PG Library area, Digital Library and Computer room for accessing digital information resources for user community. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The study is an attempt to find out the awareness and usage pattern of library information resources and services by the student community of Siva Institute of Frontier Technology (SIFT) College. The study was designed and conducted to achieve the following objectives. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
To examine the use of library information sources by student community; To find out their information gathering activities among the students; To study the purpose of usage of library information resources by them; To find out the problems faced by the students while seeking information; To suggest improvement measures based on the inferences drawn from the study.
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
SCOPE, LIMITATION AND METHODOLOGY The scope of the paper is to the students undergoing their first year of engineering education from among seven departments and the study was limited to students from Siva Institute of Frontier Technology (SIFT), in Chennai. A study based on the same topic among various colleges and universities and comparative study can be carried out. This study of the research used questionnaire- based survey method. A total of number 234 well-structured questionnaire was distributed to the students of graduates and post graduates students out of which 174 were returned dully filled in by the user’s community and the overall response rate was 74.35 percent. The questionnaire contained both open ended and close-ended questions. The collected data were classified, analyzed and tabulated by using statistical methods. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Data received from all students are taken together for study. This study was undertaken to
investigate the library information resources used by the student community of central library at Siva Institute of Frontier Technology (SIFT) for their academic purpose and extent to which they are aware and use of the library resources.
S. No 1. 2.
Table 1: Gender-wise Respondents Gender- wise No. of respondents Male 105 Female 69 Total 174
Percentage 60.34 39.66 100.0
The above table indicates that 105 (60.34 %) of the respondents are male and the remaining are female.
Graph - 1. Gender-wise Respondents
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
Table 2: Types of Respondents S. No
Category
No. of respondents
Percentage
1. 2.
UG Students PG Students Total
155 19 174
89.08 10.92 100.0
The above table shows that 155 (98.08 %) of the respondents are under Undergraduate students and the rest 19 (10.92%) of the respondents are Post graduate students category.
Graph - 2. Types of Respondents
S. No 1. 2. 3. 4.
Table 3: Purpose of the visit to the Library Description No. of respondents Percentage Borrowing Reading Browsing Consulting Total
73 44 34 23 174
41.95 25.28 19.55 13.22 100.0
The above table shows that the purpose of visit to the library. 73 (41.95 %) of respondents are visiting the library for the purpose of borrowing books, followed by 44 (25.28 %) of respondents visits for reading purpose. 34 (19.55 %) of respondents visits for browsing and only 23 (13.22 %) of respondents visits for consulting library resources.
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
Graph - 3. Purpose of the visit to the Library
S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Table 4: Use of Library Resources and Services Sources of Information No. of respondents Percentage Textbooks Print Journals Newspaper Lecture Notes Internet Thesis/Dissertations Project CD-ROMs Database Electronic Resources Total
62 8 36 11 13 2 42 174
35.63 4.60 20.68 6.32 7.48 0 0 1.15 24.14 100.0
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
Graph - 4. Use of Library Resources and Services The table 4 shows that the nine major resources of obtaining information by the students. The result is shown that ‘Textbooks’ are the most accessed source by the pupils. The majority of the participants were 62 (35.63 %), followed by ‘Electronic Resources’ with 42 (24.14 %) students expressing them. Newspapers are rated as the third source of information referred by the students. Other sources indicated are: Internet 13 (7.48 %); Lecture Notes as well Print Journal 11(6.32 %); 8 (4.60 %); CD-ROMs Databases 2 (1.15 %) while Thesis/Dissertations and Projects are hardly use. Table 5: Opinion on borrowing books from library S. No 1. 2. 3. 4.
Borrowing books Every Day Once in a Week Twice in a Week Very Rarely Total
No. of respondents 26 45 92 11 174
Percentage 14.94 25.86 52.87 6.33 100.0
The table – 5 indicates that 92 (52.87 %) of respondents are borrowing books twice in a week while 11 (6.33 %) of them fall under the category ‘Very rarely’. 45 (25.86 %) of them fall under weekly once and 26 (14.94 %) of them fall under daily category.
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
Graph.5- Opinion on borrowing books Table 6: Purpose of seeking information Purpose No. of respondents
S. No
Percentage
1.
To keep up to date
56
32.18
2.
To solve practical problem
77
44.26
3.
For carrier development
28
16.09
4.
To prepare an article
13
7.47
174
100.0
Total
From the above table no. 6 it indicates that the most of the respondents i.e. 77 (44.26 %) seek information to solve the practical problem, followed by 56 (32.18 %) of respondents to keep the knowledge up to date, 28 (16.09 %) of respondents seek information for carrier development and only 13 (7.47 %) respondents to prepare an article purpose.
S. No
Table 7: Frequency of Internet Use Frequency No. of respondents
Percentage
1.
Daily
56
32.18
2.
Weekly twice
32
18.40
3.
Weekly
71
40.80
4.
Occasionally
15
8.62
174
100.0
Total
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
The above table indicates that 71 (40.80 %) of respondents are browsing the Internet weekly while 15 (8.62 %) respondents have the habit of browsing occasionally.
Graph.6- Uses of Internet
S. No 1. 2. 3. 4.
Table 8: Type of E-Mail used by the students Type of E-Mail No .of respondents Percentage Yahoo Rediff Gmail Others Total
56 26 74 18 174
32.18 14.95 42.53 10.34 100.0
The above table shows that the majority of 74 (42.53 %) respondents are using Gmail followed by 56 (32.18 %) respondents are using yahoo mail, 26 (14.95 %) respondents are using Rediff mail and only 18 (10.34 %) respondents are using others.
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
Graph. 7. Type of E-Mail used by the students
S. No 1. 2. 5. 6. 7.
Table 9: Frequently used Search Engines Name of the Search Engine No .of respondents Google Yahoo Search MSN Search Ask.com Other Total
86 58 10 15 5 174
Percentage 49.42 33.33 5.74 8.63 2.88 100.0
From the above table it can be observed that 86 (49.42 %) respondents have opined that ‘Google’ is the most frequently used after search engines they use.
S. No 1 2 3 4
Table 10: Opinion about the library professionals Opinion No of Respondents Co – operative and helpful 126 Co – operative but not helpful 12 Helpful but not co – operative 32 Not helpful and not co - operative 4 Total 174
Percentage 72.41 6.89 18.40 2.30 100.0
The above table shows that the library staff members are supporting the users in using the library information resources from the central library, it is found that the majority of 126 (72.41 %) respondents respectively expressed the library staff are co – operative and helpful in getting the required information from the library. Though the library staff are cooperative 32 (18.40%)
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
of respondents expressed that they are not helpful and followed by only few 4 (2.30%) of respondents felt that the library staff are not helpful and not cooperative. Table 11: Problem faced by the Respondents Response No of Respondents Availability books are out dated 77 Reference books are not adequate 56 Adequate national journals 22 Adequate international journals 13 Inconvenient library hours 4 Difficult to location No library orientation 2 Total 174
S. No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Percentage 44.26 32.18 12.65 7.48 2.29 0 1.14 100.0
The above table 11 shows that the majority of 77 (44.26%) respondents are noted that the availability of books are out dated for the purpose of reading from the central library, followed by 56 (32.18%) respondents are expressed that adequate national journals and 13 (7.48%) of respondents are expressed that adequate international journals and only 2 (1.14%) of respondents are noted that no library orientation. Table 12: Level of Satisfaction of Information Obtained S. No Response No of Respondents Percentage 1. 2. 3. 4.
Fully Satisfied Satisfied Less Satisfied Dissatisfied Total
26 39 23 86 174
14.94 22.42 13.22 49.42 100
Table 12 shows the results that only 26 respondents (14.94 %) are fully satisfied with all the information they receive from the identified sources. Furthermore, 39 (22.42 %) indicated they were satisfied while 23 (13.22 %) and 86 (49.42 %) indicated less satisfied and dissatisfied respectively.
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
Graph. 8. Level of Satisfaction of Information Obtained FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
105 (60.34 %) of the respondents are male and the remaining are female. 155 (98.08 %) of the respondents are under Undergraduate students and the rest 19 (10.92%) of the respondents are Post graduate students category.
The majority of the participants were 62 (35.63 %), followed by ‘Electronic Resources’ with 42 (24.14 %) students expressing them. Newspapers are rated as the third source of information referred by the students.
77 (44.26 %) respondents seek information to solve the practical problem, followed by 56 (32.18 %) of respondents to keep the knowledge up to date, 28 (16.09 %) of respondents seek information for carrier development and only 13 (7.47 %) respondents to prepare an article purpose.
The majority of 74 (42.53 %) respondents are using Gmail followed by 56 (32.18 %) respondents are using yahoo mail, 26 (14.95 %) respondents are using Rediff mail and only 18 (10.34 %) respondents are using others.
It is found that the majority of 126 (72.41 %) respondents respectively expressed the library staff are co – operative and helpful in getting the required information from the library. only few 4 (2.30%) of respondents felt that the library staff are not helpful and not cooperative.
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
The majority of 77 (44.26%) respondents are noted that the availability of books is out dated for the purpose of reading from the central library.
56 (32.18%) respondents are expressed that adequate national journals and 13 (7.48%) of respondents are expressed that adequate international journals and only 2 (1.14%) of respondents are noted that no library orientation programme.
Only 26 respondents (14.94 %) are fully satisfied with all the information they receive from the identified sources. Furthermore, 39 (22.42 %) indicated they were satisfied while 23 (13.22 %) and 86 (49.42 %) indicated less satisfied and dissatisfied respectively.
SUGGESTIONS Based on the above findings of the study, the following suggestions are strongly recommended to recover and improve the use of library information resources among the user community i.e. teachers and students of engineering colleges under study:
It is recommended that more subject books as well reference books must be purchased as per the syllabus.
It is recommended that the library automation must be maintained properly.
Electronic resources like audio visual materials CD-ROM collections have to be purchased.
More computers with latest specifications and multimedia kit should be installed, so that users can use Internet telephony, video-conferencing, chatting and other useful services of the Internet.
The time of Internet service should be increased, if possible the service should be round the clock. So that users get maximum utilization of this service.
The college must introduce user education programme about digital library to all the students.
The library staff ought to create awareness about digital library among the students.
CONCLUSION As a result, this study explored the information seeking behaviour of graduate students. The findings indicate the usage and awareness of Central Library, its resources and services needs to be more increased. The Internet facility has enabled the teachers and students to enhance their academic excellence by providing them the latest information and access to
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
worldwide information. So, it should be extended to all the engineering college libraries. A few graduate students mentioned influences such as difficulty locating information or the need for convenience and speed. Furthermore, the library must provide orientation programmes; workshops and seminars for students to train them to utilize the resources and make best use of them. REFERENCES 1. Dhanavandan, S Mohamed Esmail, S and Sivaraj, S, (2009). ‘‘Use of Digital Resources among Engineering Professional in Cuddalore district, Tamilnadu’’, IJISS Vol.3 (1), pp36-40. 2. Margaret Appleton, and Debbie Orr, “Meeting the Needs of Distance Education Students in Information Literacy Around the world: Advances in Programs and Research”, Edited by Christine Bruce and Philip Candy. Centre for Information Studies, Wagga. 3. David Hawkridge, “The Big Bang Theory in Distance Education in Open and Distance Learning Today”, Edited by Fred Lockwood, London, Routledge, 1995, pp. 3-12. 4. Hancock-Beaulieu, as cited by Ellis, 1989. Learning from web information seeking studies, pp: vii. 5. Wilson, T.D., 1999. “On user studies and information needs’’, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 3-15. 6. Mohamed Esmail, S and Uma, V. “Use Pattern of Information Sources by Undergraduate Students of Engineering Faculty in Annamalai University”, Indian Journal of Information Library and Society (IJLIS), Vol.17, pp.17-26.
This paper is published in Contemporary Issues in Library and Information Science, edited by Dr.S.J.Deshmukh & Prof. P.B.Ghant, Atharva Publications, Maharashtra, 359 -367, ISBN: 9789384093112.
