Exploring the information seeking behavior of Greek graduate students : A case study set in the University of Macedonia

Malliari, Afrodite and Korobili, Stella and Zapounidou, Sofia Exploring the information seeking behavior of Greek graduate students : A case study set in the University of Macedonia. International Information and Library Review, 2011, vol. 43, n. 2, pp. 79-91. [Journal article (Paginated)]

[img]
Preview
Text
2011 Macedonia_postprint.pdf

Download (1MB) | Preview

English abstract

This paper describes a survey designed to determine the information seeking behavior of graduate students at the University of Macedonia (UoM). The survey is a continuation of a previous one undertaken in the Faculties of Philosophy and Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh). This paper primarily presents results from the UoM survey, but also makes comparisons with the findings from the earlier survey at AUTh. The 254 UoM students responding tend to use the simplest information search techniques with no critical variations between different disciplines. Their information seeking behavior seems to be influenced by their search experience, computer and web experience, perceived ability and frequency of use of e-sources, and not by specific personal characteristics or attendance at library instruction programs. Graduate students of both universities similar information seeking preferences, with the UoM students using more sophisticated techniques, such as Boolean search and truncation, more often than the AUTh students.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Information seeking behavior; Academic libraries; Graduate students; Greece
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BH. Information needs and information requirements analysis.
C. Users, literacy and reading. > CB. User studies.
Depositing user: Sofia Zapounidou
Date deposited: 28 Dec 2017 14:53
Last modified: 28 Dec 2017 14:53
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/32102

References

1. Amiel, Tel, & Sargent, Stephanie Lee (2004). Individual differences in Internet usage motives. Computers in Human Behavior, 20(6), 711-726.

2. Aula, Anne (2005). Studying user strategies and characteristics for developing web search interfaces In Dissertations in Interactive Technology, Vol. 3. Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere, Department of Computer Science. Retrieved April 19, 2011, from http://acta.uta.fi/pdf/951-44-6488-5.pdf.

3. Aula, Anne, Jhaveri, Natalie, & Kaki, Mika. (2005). Information search and re-access strategies of experienced web users. Paper presented at the 14th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2005), Chiba, Japan, May 10-14, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doiZ10.1.1.76.7424&repZrep1&typeZpdf.

4. Banwell, Linda, & Coulson, Linda (2004). Users and user study meth- odology: the jubilee project. Information Research, 9(2). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from. http://InformationR.net/ir/9-2/paper167.html.

5. Barrett, Andy (2005). The information-seeking habits of graduate student researchers in the humanities. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(4), 324-331.

6. Blickle, Gerhard (1996). Personality traits, learning strategies, and performance. European Journal of Personality, 10(5), 337-352.

7. Branch, Jennifer L (2003). Nontraditional undergraduates at home, work, and school: an examination of information-seeking behaviors and the impact of information literacy instruction. Research Strategies, 19(1), 3-15.

8. Brown, Steven P., Ganesan, Shankar, & Challagalla, Goutam (2001). Self-efficacy as a moderator of information-seeking effective- ness. Journal of Applied Psycholog, 86(5), 1043-1051.

9. Brunton, Christine (2007). The effects of library user-education programmes on the information-seeking behaviour of Brisbane College of Theology Students. Journal of Religious & Theolog- ical Information, 7(2), 55-74.

10. Byström, Katriina, & Järvelin, Kalervo (1995). Task complexity affects information seeking and use. Information Processing and Management, 31(2), 191-213.

11. Callinan, Joanne E (2005). Information-seeking behavior of under- graduate biology students. Library Review, 54(2), 86-99.

12. Chen, Hsin-Liang (2009). An analysis of undergraduate students’ search behaviors in an information literacy class. Journal of Web Librarianship, 3(4), 333-347.

13. Cosijn, Erica (2006). Relevance judgements within the context of work tasks. In I. Ruthven, P. Borlund, P. Ingwersen, N. J. Belkin, A. Tombros, & P. Vakkari (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1st Inter- national Conference on information interaction in context (pp. 20-29). Copenhagen, Denmark: ACM.

14. Craig, Ann, & Corrall, Sheila (2007). Making a difference? Measuring the impact of an information literacy programme for pre- registration nursing students in the UK. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24(2), 118-127.

15. Davies, Karen (2007). The information-seeking behaviour of doctors: a review of the evidence. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 24(2), 78-94.

16. Dervin, Brenda (1992). From the mind’s eye of the user: the sense- making qualitative-quantitative methodology. In J. Glazier, & R. Powell (Eds.), Qualitative research in information management (pp. 61-84). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

17. Ellis, David, Cox, Deborah, & Hall, Katherine (1993). A comparison of information-seeking patterns of researchers in the physical and social sciences. Journal of Documentation, 49(4), 356-369.

18. Eshet-Alkalai, Yoram, & Chajut, Eran (2009). Changes over time in digital literacy. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(6), 713-715.

19. Fast, Karl V., & Campbell, D. Grant (2004). “I still like Google”: university student perceptions of searching Opacs and the Web. Proceedings of the ASIST Annual Meeting, 41, 138-146.

20. Fidzani, B. T. (1998). Information needs and information-seeking behaviour of graduate students at the University of Botswana. Library Review, 47(7), 329-340.

21. Finn, Bette, & Johnston, Pat (2004). Index use by engineering faculty and students. Georgia Library Quarterly, 41(3), 5-15.

22. Ford, Nigel, Miller, David, & Moss, Nicola (2005). Web search strategies and human individual differences: cognitive and demographic factors, Internet attitudes, and approaches. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 56(7), 741-756.

23. Francis, Hannah (2005). The information-seeking behavior of social science faculty at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(1), 67-72.

24. George, Carole, Bright, Alice, Hurlbert, Terry, Linke Erika, C., St. Clair, Gloriana, & Stein, Joan (2006). Scholarly use of information: graduate students’ information seeking behavior. Information Research, 11(4). Retrieved November 8, 2009, from. http://informationr.net/ir/11-4/paper272.html.

25. Gosling, Samuel D., Rentfrow, Peter J., & Swann, William B., Jr. (2003). A very brief measure of the big-five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(6), 504-528.

26. Griffiths, Jillian R., & Brophy, Peter (2005). Student searching behavior and the Web: use of academic resources and Google. Library Trends, 53(4), 539-554.

27. Hölscher, Christoph, & Strube, Gerhard (2000). Web search behavior of internet experts and newbies. Computer Networks, 33(1-6), 337-346, Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://www.iicm.edu:8000/thesis/cguetl_diss/literatur/Kapitel02/References/Hoelscher_et_al._2000/81.html.

28. Haglund, Lotta, & Olsson, Per (2008). The impact on university libraries of changes in information behavior among academic researchers: a multiple case study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(1), 52-59.

29. Hargittai, Eszter (2002). Second-level digital divide: differences in people’s online skills. First Monday, 7(4). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/942/864.

30. Hargittai, Eszter (2010). Digital Na (T) Ives? Variation in Internet skills and uses among members of the “Net generation”. Sociological Inquiry, 80(1), 92-113.

31. Hargittai, Eszter, & Shafer, Steven (2006). Differences in actual and perceived online skills: the role of gender. Social Science Quarterly, 87(2), 432-448.

32. Heinström, Jannica (2000). The impact of personality and approaches to learning on information behaviour. Information Research, 5(3). Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://informationr.net/ir/5-3/paper78.html.

33. Heinström, Jannica (2003). Five personality dimensions and their influence on information behavior. Information Research, 9(1). Retrieved November 8, 2009, from. http://informationr.net/ir/ 9-1/paper165.html.

34. Heinström, Jannica (2005). Fast surfing, broad scanning and deep diving: the influence of personality and study approach on students’ information-seeking behavior. Journal of Documen- tation, 61(2), 228-247.

35. Heinström, Jannica (2006). Fast surfing for availability or deep diving into quality-motivation and information seeking among middle and high school students. Information Research, 11(4). Retrieved November 8, 2009, from. http://informationr.net/ir/ 11-4/paper265.html.

36. Hembrooke, Helene A., Granka, Laura A., Gay, Geraldine K., & Liddy, Elizabeth D (2005). The effects of expertise and feedback on search term selection and subsequent learning. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 56(8), 861-871.

37. Hemminger, Bradley M., Lu, Dihui, Vaughan, K. T. L., & Adams, Stephanie J. (2007). Information seeking behavior of academic scientists. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(14), 2205-2225.

38. Hsieh-Yee, lngrid (1993). Effects of search experience and subject knowledge on the search tactics of novice and experienced searchers. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 44(3), 161-174.

39. Jamali, Hamid R., & Asadi, Saeid (2010). Google and the scholar: the role of Google in scientists’ information-seeking behaviour. Online Information Review, 34(2), 282-294.

40. Jenkins, Christine, Corritore, Cynthia L., & Wiedenbeck, Susan (2003). Patterns of information seeking on the web: a qualitative study of domain expertise and web expertise. IT & Society, 1(3), 64-89.

41. Johnson, J., David, E., Case, Donald O., Andrews, James, Allard, Suzanne L., & Johnson, Nathaniel E (2006). Fields and pathways: contrasting or complementary views of information seeking. Information Processingand Management, 42(2), 569-582. Kai-Wah Chu, Samuel, & Law, Nancy (2008). The development of information search expertise of research students. Journal of

42. Librarianship and Information Science, 40(3), 165-177.

43. Kerins, Gillian, Madden, Ronan, & Fulton, Crystal (2004). Information seeking and students studying for professional careers: the cases of engineering and law students in Ireland. Information Research, 10(1). Retrieved November 8, 2009, from. http://informationr.net/ir/10-1/paper208.html.

44. Kim, Jeonghyun. (2009). Predictors of behavioral intentions in web searching. Poster presented at the 2009 American Society for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting. Thriving on Diversity - Information Opportunities in a Pluralistic World, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, November 6-11 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from http://www.asis.org/Conferences/ AM09/open-proceedings/posters/82.xml

45. Kim, Kyung-Sun, & Allen, Bryce (2002). Cognitive and task influences on web searching behavior. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(2), 109-119.

46. Korobili, Stella, Malliari, Aphrodite, & Zapounidou, Sofia (2011). Factors that influence information seeking behavior: the case of Greek graduate students. The Journal of Academic Librarian- ship, 37(2), 155-165.

47. Korobili, Stella, Tilikidou, Irene, & Delistavrou, Antonia (2006). Factors that influence the use of library resources by faculty members. Library Review, 55(2), 91-105.

48. Landers, Richard N., & Lounsbury, John W (2006). An investigation of big five and narrow personality traits in relation to Internet usage. Computers in Human Behavior, 22(2), 283-293.

49. Landry, & Fay, Carol (2006). Work roles, tasks, and the information behavior of dentists. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(14), 1896-1908.

50. Leckie, Gloria J., Pettigrew, Karen E., & Sylvain, Christian (1996). modeling the information seeking of professionals: a general model derived from research on engineers, health care professionals, and lawyers. The Library Quarterly, 66(2), 161-193.

51. Liao, Yan, Finn, Mary, & Lu, Jun. (2007). Information-seeking behavior of international graduate students vs. American graduate students: a user study at Virginia Tech 2005. College and Research Libraries, 68(1), 5-25.

52. Makani, Joyline, & WooShue, Kelli (2006). Information seeking behaviours of business students and the development of academic digital libraries. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 1(4), 30-45.

53. Marchionini, Gary (1997). Information seeking in electronic environments. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

54. Nicholas, David, Clark, David, Rowlands, Ian, & Jamali, Hamid R (2009). Online use and information seeking behaviour: Institutional and subject comparisons of UK researchers. Journal of Information Science, 35(6), 660-676.

55. Nicholas, David, Huntington, Paul, & Jamali, Hamid R (2007). diversity in the information seeking behaviour of the virtual scholar: Institutional comparisons. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 33(6), 629-638.

56. Palmer, Judith (1991). Scientists and information: II. Personal factors in information behaviour. Journal of Documentation, 47(3), 254-275.

57. Patitungkho, Kingkaew, & Deshpande, Neela J (2005). Information seeking behavior of faculty members of Rajabhat Universities in Bangkok. Webology, 2(4). Retrieved November 8, 2009, from. http://www.webology.ir/2005/v2n4/a20.html.

58. Ren, Wen-Hua (2000). Library instruction and college student self- efficacy in electronic information searching. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 26(5), 323-328.

59. Rieger, Oya Y (2009). Search engine use behavior of students and faculty: user perceptions and implications for future research. First Monday, 14(12). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from. http:// firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/ viewArticle/2716/2385.

60. Rowlands, Ian, & Nicholas, David (2008). Understanding informa- tion behavior: how do students and faculty find books? The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(1), 3-15.

61. Sadler, Elizabeth (Bess), & Given, Lisa M (2007). Affordance theory: a framework for graduate students’ information behavior. Journal of Documentation, 63(1), 115-141.

62. Samson, Sue (2010). Information literacy learning outcomes and student success. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(3), 202-210.

63. Sharifabadi, Saeed Rezaei. (1996). Information seeking and communication among researchers and the impact of electronic networks: a literature review (Unpublished PhD thesis). In Effects of the Internet on research activities, information seeking and communication behaviour of Australian academic psychologists (Chapter 3, pp. 45-86). Sydney: University of New South Wales. Retrieved April 19, 2011, from http://www. alzahra.ac.ir/rezaei/PDF/CHAP3.pdf.

64. Talja, Sanna, & Maula, Hanni (2003). Reasons for the use and non- use of electronic journals and databases. Journal of Documentation, 59(6), 673-691.

65. Tella, Adeyinka (2009). Correlates of undergraduates’ information- seeking behavior. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 16(1), 1-19. Thatcher, Andrew (2008). Web search strategies: the influence of web experience and task type. Information Processing & Management, 44(3), 1308-1329.

66. Tramullas, Jesu´s, & Casabon, Ana Sanchez. (2010). Scientific information retrieval behavior: A case study in students of philosophy. Paper presented at the I Congreso Espanõl de Recuperación de Información (CERI 2010), Madrid, Spain, 15-16 June 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from http://ir.ii.uam.es/ ceri2010/papers/ceri2010-tramullas.pdf.

67. Tsai, Meng-Jung (2009). Online Information Searching Strategy Inventory (OISSI): a quick version and a complete version. Computers & Education, 53(2), 473-483.

68. Tsai, Meng-Jung, & Tsai, Chin-Chung (2003). information searching strategies in web-based science learning: the role of Internet self-efficacy. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 40(1), 43-50.

69. Urquhart, Christine, & Rowley, Jennifer (2007). Understanding student information behavior in relation to electronic information services: Lessons from longitudinal monitoring and evaluation, Part 2. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(8), 1188-1197.

70. Urquhart, Christine, Thomas, Rhina, Spink, Sian, Fenton, Roger, Yeoman, Alison, Lonsdale, Ray, et al. (2005). Student use of electronic information services in further education. Inter- national Journal of Information Management, 25(4), 347-362.

71. Vakkari, Pertti (1999). Task complexity, problem structure and information actions integrating studies on information seeking and retrieval. Information Processing and Management, 35(6), 819-837.

72. Vezzosi, Monica (2009). Doctoral students’ information behavior- an exploratory study at the University of Parma (Italy). New Library World, 110(1-2), 65-80.

73. Waldman, Micaela (2003). Freshmen’s use of library electronic resources and self-efficacy. Information Research, 8(2). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from. http://informationr.net/ir/8-2/paper150.html.

74. Weiler, Angela (2005). Information-seeking behavior in Generation Y students: motivation, critical thinking, and learning theory. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(1), 46-53.

75. White, Ryen W., Dumais, Susan T., & Teevan, Jaime. (2009). Characterizing the influence of domain expertise on web search behavior. Paper presented at the 2nd ACM international Conference on web Search and data mining (WSDM’09), Barcelona, Spain, February 9-12, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2011, from www.wsdm2009.org/papers/p132-white.pdf.

76. Whitmire, Ethelene (2002). Disciplinary differences and under-graduates’ information-seeking behavior. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(8), 631-638.

77. Wildemuth, Barbara M (2004). The effects of domain knowledge on search tactic formulation. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55(3), 246-258.

78. Williamson, Kirsty, Bernath, Vivienne, Wright, Steven, & Sullivan, Jen (2008). Research students in the Electronic Age: Impacts of changing information behavior on information literacy needs. Communications in Information Literacy, 1(2). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from. http://www.comminfolit.org/ index.php/cil/article/view/Fall2007AR1/48.

79. Wilson, T. D. (1981). On user studies and information needs. Journal of Documentation, 37(1), 3-15.

80. Wilson, T. D. (2006). on user studies and information needs. Journal of Documentation, 62(6), 658-670.

81. Zhang, Xiangmin, Anghelescu, Hermina G. B., & Yuan, Xiaojun (2005). Domain knowledge, search behavior, and search effectiveness of engineering and science students: an exploratory study. Information Research, 10(2). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from. http://InformationR.net/ir/10-2/paper217.html.


Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item