Information seeking behaviour of teachers and students of jan nayak Ch. Devi Lal Vidyapeeth, Sirsa

Introduction

Every part of a modern information society or human beings relies heavily on the information. It is considered an essential resource that has an impact on both personal and professional aspects of human lives. Like other vital resources, everyone requires information to make decisions in their day-to-day activities. Information seeking behaviour refers to the process of acquiring, analysing, and implementing acquired information whenever the need arises. It is much more critical for academicians, researchers, and students because they all want accurate and up-to-date information for their research. A large amount of literature involved in library and information science research is also associated with information-related behaviour, including information needs, information seeking and use of information resources.1

The Jan Nayak Ch. Devil Lal Vidyapeeth2 is now a leading educational institutions imparting education from the pre-primary stage to postgraduate stage. It offers Master, Bachelor Degree as well as Diploma like M.B.A., B. Tech., B.D.S., B. Pharma, B.P.T. B.Ed., D. Pharma and Polytechnic courses. Besides teaching schedule a reasonably separate well equipped library is also maintained to support teaching learning process and research activities. The present study was conducted to understand the information seeking behaviour of teachers and students in different disciplines of technical and medical sources. Knowledge of their behaviour shall help in gearing up resources for effective utilization.

Information Need and Information Seeking Behaviour

Information is a valuable resource that aids us in making the right decisions or picking the correct option. When such a requirement is developed, it must be searched and located for previously existing and accessible information, and a systematic procurement with specifications must be produced for non-accessible information.

Several academics characterise the user information need using their own unique perspectives, but the significant characteristic remains the same. According to Doraswamy,3 the information need is an individual’s or a group’s desire to discover and receive information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need. He further defined the Information need as the gradual emergence of a vague sense of something being lacking, culminating in the discovery of information that helps to comprehension and meaning.

The process through which humans change their state of knowledge is known as information seeking. As information seekers direct attention, accept and adjust to stimuli, reflect on progress, and evaluate the efficacy of continuing, this process is said to be internally active.4 The information seeking behaviour, on the other hand, refers to a person’s behaviours in identifying their own information needs, searching for that information in any means possible, acquiring and transferring the information in the desired format, and using the information to meet the desired information need.5 Again, Sultana6 explained the term Information seeking behaviour as a set of actions consisting of information needs, seeking information, evaluating and selecting information and finally using this information.

Objectives of The Study

Within the broad framework of understanding the information seeking behaviour of teachers and students in the Faculty of Jan Nayak Ch. Devil Lal Vidyapeeth the following specific objectives were intended to be achieved:

Literature Review

Any research begins with a literature review. A new study must review past theoretical and empirical work to characterise the topic. It provides a conceptual framework, methodology, processes, operational definitions of main concepts, and findings interpretations. As the current study is not based on a completely novel concept, a systematic design was created to include only relevant and valuable research. This study prioritised Scopus-indexed research and searched under the following scope:

Title ( information and seeking and behaviour ) and Pub Year > 2012 and ( Limit-to ( Affilcintry, "India" ) ) and ( Limit-TO (Subjarea , "Soci"))

Pareek and Rana (2013)1 evaluated the information-seeking behaviour of Banasthali University researchers and their awareness of library services. The study used open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires to assess 100 researchers’ information demands. The study found that librarian training is needed to help researchers meet some of their information needs. Mishra et al. (2015)7 used the library of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar to analyse 420 health science students’ study habits. SPSS 20 examined the collected data. This survey indicated that students use e-resources for information retrieval regularly or daily through the internet/e-library. Textbooks, reference books, and e-journals are also commonly mentioned by students. Most respondents (84.9%) utilise the internet for study, according to the research by Stephen and Murugan (2015).8 Bilawara and Pujar (2016)9 researched e-information literacy in Maharashtra. 360 university teachers (347 responded) in 10 Maharashtra state colleges were surveyed. The report found that e-information literacy helps professors improve their search abilities and make informed conclusions. Fatima and Kumari (2017)10 studied AMU students' library use. Visually impaired children had a clear schedule (Performa with questions). Informal interviews augmented timetables. Most users (77.5%) wanted professional development information, and 52.5% were satisfied with the library overall. Kumar (2018)11 studied how teachers and researchers at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A Central University), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, use e-resources. 161 research scientists and 70 faculty members received a detailed questionnaire. Most respondents comprehend and are familiar with electronic resources, which is positive for those who use them. Khazer and Ganaie (2018)12 studied how Jammu and Kashmir university students used the internet. Adopting descriptive research, the study examined the function of information technology in postgraduate students’ information seeking and the main impediment stopping them from using it to meet their information needs. J.S. and Ramalingam (2019)13 studied male and female international school instructors in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. The study used a descriptive research approach and 300 self-administered, well-structured questionnaires. SPSS was used to analyse data. Bindhu and Balasubramanian (2019)14 studied women library users in Alagappa, Madurai Kamaraj, and MS. 1200 women post-graduate students, researchers, and staff members were surveyed on their information needs, library visits, and use of formal and e-resources. 45-67% of women in the study frequented the library every day for professional development. Bhattacharjee et al. (2019)15 researched information-seeking at universities. The study used a stratified random sample technique to collect data from 600 UG/PG students, researchers, and faculty members. After review and observation, the scientific community was baffled. Inefficient library information system Haritha et al. (2020)16 surveyed Pondicherry University students’ dental information-seeking. This study examines students’ dental health and the role of LICs in Pondicherry. The 38-question poll yielded 150 samples. This survey found that Pondicherry University students are educated and know a lot about general health, but not dental health. Bala and Vanitha (2020)17 evaluated engineering faculty library use in South Tamil Nadu using a well-structured, closed-ended questionnaire. Randomly picked from Tamil Nadu’s four southern districts were 560 respondents. Four engineering colleges answer. The survey indicated university libraries have incorporated new ICT and electronic resources that academic faculties use well. Das and Mandal (2021)18 surveyed math academics and researchers using Google Forms. The study compared regular faculty and Regular Research scholars of mathematics departments under the university of Burdwan in terms of information needs and information-seeking behaviour, highlighting the need to re-investigate the quality of library infrastructure and services within the discipline-specific for a deeper understanding of faculty and research scholars’ information behaviour. Neogi and Partap19 studied the agricultural research fraternity at UBKV in Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal (India) in 2021. The survey employed a self-created questionnaire. 76.40% of respondents went to the library to check out or return books, while 59.55% explored electronic information sources.

Research Methodology

The purpose of study was to know the teachers and researchers search their required information, the sources they make use of and researchers search their required information, the sources they make use of and relative use of different sources Thus its nature was essentially empirical and it was designed to measure the desired chrematistics of a definite population. Now as the population of the study consists of teachers and students from the six colleges of JCD Vidyapeeth (i.e. JCD College of Engineering, Dental, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Education and Polytechnic), the study was conducted within the campus.

Data Collection

For collection of the data, a questionnaire was designed to cover all possible angle to examine the information needs of the targeted samples. The overall population of the study contains 2500 teachers and students from six colleges of JCD Vidyapeeth (i.e. JCD College of Engineering, Dental, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Education and Polytechnic) and from which a stratified random sample of 450 was selected to distribute the questionnaire.

Personal questionnaires provide several benefits. The administrator can develop rapport, explain the study’s goal, and clarify unclear issues. Having many respondents in one area saves time and money and increases usable responses. Therefore, the questionnaire was administered by personally visiting the respondents. Some return the questionnaire instantly, while in others numerous visits proved fruitless. Out of them almost 200 (44.4%) fully-filled and valued responses were identified for the course of the study. The response rate of teachers is much more (58.2%) than the students (37.3%). Also, among the six colleges of JCD Vidyapeeth, the maximum responses (52.7%) were collected from JCD College of Dental.

Data Analysis and Presentation

After collecting the data, it was tabulated on tally sheets for easier interpretation and then cleaned using Microsoft Excel for improved visualization. The results were then examined using several parameters that were specified in the questionnaire to achieve the desired goals. Again to show a clear comparison between several variables of the study, weighted average (WA) of the already set parameters were also calculated. For this purpose, the following weightage was given to each response:

Weighted Average (WA) for source A will be, WA=WeightageFrequency, so for this, WA=3010=3

The concepts of WA have helped in simplifying the complex tables and comparative analysis of responses in various categories.

Result and Discussion

The survey questionnaire of the study broadly covered nine (9) closed questions with predefined options, associated with some sub-questions. This questions help to identify the information seeking behaviour among students and staffs of the six colleges of JCD Vidyapeeth in different angles.

Table 5 Outlines the various reasons that teachers use libraries to obtain the information they need. The need for the study was cited as being the most important reason (W.A. = 3.73), followed by the need for information and the requirement to borrow, return, or renew books, with W.A. values of 3.22 and 3.10, respectively. Surprisingly, teachers don't spend as much time reading newspapers or business information at the library (W.A. = 2.48).

Table 6 details how frequently and for what reasons students use the library. Studying is the main reason people go to libraries (W.A. = 3.85). Meeting up with friends and obtaininginformation were two more reasons to often visit the library, accounting for 3.66 and 3.46 W.A., respectively.

Table 7 Shows the frequency and reason forteachers’ and students’ library visits. The table demonstrates teachers and students use libraries most frequently to study. The second most common reasons for instructors and students to visit libraries are to meet friends and for information. Reading newspapers or business details is the least frequent reason teachers and students visit the library.

The viewpoint of library patrons on the availability of sufficient and course-related e-journals in separate libraries is depicted in Table 8. The result indicates that the JCD College of Engineering Library has the highest percentage (20.5%) availability of relevant (course-related) e-journals, followed by the JCD College of Pharmacy Library (18.0%). The lowest percentage (10.5%) is held by the library of JCD College of Education.

Table 9 lists the specific information requests made by JCD Vidyapeeth’s teachers and students. The majority of respondents—nearly 56%—selected that getting information for a research assignment was the main reason they went to the library. The need for the necessary information to keep oneself informed is closely behind it (52% response).

Table 10 Shows sources of references for the users. In all categories of respondents, recently read books and articles (46%), review articles (26%), and printed I/A journals (24%), were the most commonly used sources of information for obtaining references. It's interesting to see that CD-ROM I/A Services were the least often used source of references.

Regarding how the respondents searched for their documents in the library, see Table 11. According to the aforementioned table, 35% of the respondents confirmed they search for their required information themselves. Again, 29% used the reference librarian’s assistance to get the information they needed. Only 15% of respondents said they had used the assistance of classmates or coworkers.

The frequency with which the teachers of JCD Vidyapeeth used the library collection is seen in Table 12. The teachers most frequently visit the library for subject-specific books, research journals and textbooks with 3.94, 3.92 and 3.83 W.A., respectively. Review publications with a W.A. of 3.66 and subject dictionaries with a W.A. of 3.45 on a 4-point scale are two more frequently used library materials. Gazetteers and manuscripts are the least used sources, with weighted averages of 2.30 and 2.36, respectively, which are closer to the rarity of the use of these sources.

The frequency with which students use the library collection is shown in Table 13. The data makes it clear that students most frequently use the subject-specific book collection (W. A. 3.79). General books (W.A. 3.74) and textbooks (W.A. 3.64) are the next two categories. On the other hand, review publications and manuscripts are the collections that are used the least frequently (W. A. 2.17) (W. A. 2.20). Interestingly, 9 out of 21 respondents said they never use an indexing journal, while 4 out of 17 said they never use an abstracting journal.

Table 14 Displays how frequently Teachers and Students use the library collection. The chart demonstrates that teachers and students most frequently used subject-specific library collections. The second most popular collection used by teachers is research journals. Gazetteers are the least utilised collection by teachers, whereas review periodicals are the least used collection by students.

Table 15 Provides the titles of print periodicals and information about how JCD Vidyapeeth users use them. There are only four journals, and each one is only used up to seven times (m.a.). No print titles are used more than seven times. The remaining 144 journals have only one frequency, with eleven journals having a frequency of 5, eight journals having a frequency of 4, two journals having a frequency of 3, and four journals having a frequency of 2. Additionally, 21 print periodicals have zero readers.

Table 16 Indicated that the faculties of JCD College of Dental used their library more frequently than the other college library. However, the proportion of respondents who use the library frequently is the same for all the cases except JCD College of Polytechnic Library. Some of the respondents use other University Libraries like those of GJU, Hisar, and Kurukshetra University. But they have not mentioned the frequency of use of these libraries.

Table 17 Shows that students in the disciplines of JCD Vidyapeeth use their JCD College of Engineering Library more frequently than their other college libraries. While 34 out of 62 use the JCD College of Engineering Library frequently, only 12 out of 61 respondents use the JCD College of Pharmacy Library with the least frequency.

All of the respondent categories utilise the libraries relatively regularly, as seen in Table 18. The table clearly shows that the JCD College of Engineering Library’s W.A. is superior to all other colleges’ libraries at JCD Vidyapeeth. Compared to the other colleges in JCD Vidyapeeth, teachers and students at JCD College of Engineering used the library more frequently than JCD College of Dental Faculty and Students.

The challenges teachers encounter in staying up to date and locating the necessary information are covered in Table 19. Inadequate library resources (3.54 W.A.) are the most commonly reported issue, followed by inadequate review sources (W.A. 3.33) and instructional workload (W.A. 3.16).

Table 20 reveals the problems and difficulties faced by students. Students in keeping themselves up to date in their field. Lack of suitable Review Sources in the most frequently enumerated problem (W. A. 3.25), followed by the problem of a variety of sources (W. A.3.18) and inadequate library resources (W. A.3.17).

The challenges that teachers and students confront to find the required information are covered in Table 21. The lack of relevant resources in the library is the issue that teachers run into the most. While made quote review sources are the most frequent issue experienced by students. Rules and procedures at the library are the issues that teachers encounter the least, whereas students most frequently encounter a lack of funding.

Findings

Suggestions

On the basis of finding of the study, the following suggestions can be given:

Conclusion

Information is omnipresent and is a cornerstone of human existence. Facts, intelligence, statistics, news, and knowledge are a few different ways that people define information. It is a necessary addition to practically all social activities. Information is considered important that contributes to the development of a nation. It serves as the building block for the advancement of knowledge, the foundation for innovations, and the source for an informed populace, and as a result, it turns into a crucial resource for the growth of a civilization.

In the end, from this study, it can be concluded that teachers and students of JCD Vidyapeeth required information mostly for their research projects or to remain current in their disciplines. They obtain the information they need from a variety of sources. Many factors, including a lack of resources in the library, contribute to the fact that the majority of them are only partially successful in their endeavours. It is also clear from this study that casual conversation is an effective way to convey information.

Source of Funding

None.

Conflict of Interest

None.