INFLUENCING RESEARCHERS IN THEIR INFORMATION CHOICES:

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

 

 

 

I.                   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

 

 A library plays an important role in the academic pursuit of knowledge of university students in the course of their stay in the academe. University students look to campus libraries and library websites for their information needs.  The equation “information=library” has changed with the advent of the Internet. From “information=book” it has evolved to “information=Web.” Though librarians are aware that the Web is not the entire universe of knowledge, many of the users would be surprised to learn that there is valuable, even essential, information that is not at their fingertips.  There are two approaches librarians could take: librarians could attempt to convince users that they should go into libraries to find information, or librarians could spend the next decade making sure they can get to that valuable information by making it visible in the online world where they live, play and learn (Coyle 2007). This paper proposes to deal with the first approach where librarians could attempt to convince users that they should go into libraries to find information and from there the librarians can influence the information seeker on how and where to find and use the information. Librarians need to gain a much better understanding of how people actually behave both in a virtual library or actual setting in order for them to serve the library information seeker better.

Users are promiscuous, diverse and volatile and it is clear that these behaviors represent serious challenges for traditional information providers, nurtured in a hard-copy paradigm and, in many respects, still tied to it. Libraries must move away from being counting dubious download statistics, and get much closer to monitoring the actual information seeking behavior of their users (British Library and JISC, January 2008).

 II.                OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 The objective of this proposal is to bring back the glory of the library as a primary information center and librarians play a role of influencing the behavior of the information seekers’ choices. This is to help library and information services to anticipate and react to any new or emerging behaviors in the most effective way to help the information seekers in their choices.

III.             RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Librarians and information providers act as bridges to pointing where the information is, with this: are librarians and information providers impart an understanding necessary to make better the service? How can librarians and information providers influence researchers in their information choices?

IV.             SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

 It is alarming to know that today’s information seekers or researchers prefer the Yahoo or Google way of searching. In the study conducted by the British Library and JISC (January 2008), only 2% begin an information search from a library web site, 84% are satisfied with the librarian-assisted search, compare that with 93% as satisfied or very satisfied with their overall experience of using a search engine.

Librarians and information providers must be wary of that information seekers’ behavior or researchers, librarians must act to restore the confidence of the information seekers to consult librarians and libraries for their information quest.

This paper will serve as a baseline for measuring the necessary understanding to better library services and provide solutions to influence researchers in their information choices. This l will add to the existing understanding of the role of the library and the librarians in influencing the researchers in their information choice. Librarians and other information providers must have recent and continuous research on how the researchers find information and which sources and mediums they use to fulfill their information needs.

 V.                DEFINITION OF TERMS

 The following definitions are taken from Wilson’s “Human information behavior” (2000).

Information behavior is the totality of human behavior in relation to sources and channels of information, including both active and passive information seeking, and information use. Thus, it includes face-to-face communication with others, as well as the passive reception of information as in, for example, watching TV advertisement, without any intention to act on the information given.

Information seeking behavior is the purposive seeking for information as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. In the course of seeking, the individual may interact with manual information systems (such as a newspaper or a library), or with computer-based systems) such as the World Wide Web).

Information searching behavior is the ‘micro-level’ of behavior employed by the searcher in interacting with information systems of all kind. It consists of all the interactions with the systems, whether at the level of human computer interaction (for example, use of the mouse and clicks on links) or at the intellectual level (for example, adopting a Boolean search strategy or determining the criteria for deciding which of two books selected from adjacent places on a library shelf is most useful), which will also involve mental acts, such as judging the relevance of data or information retrieved.

Information use behavior consists of the physical and mental acts involved in incorporating the information found into the person’s existing knowledge base. It may involve, therefore, physical acts such as marking sections in a text to note their importance or significance, as well as mental acts that involve, for example, comparison of new information with existing knowledge.

VI.             LITERATURE REVIEW

 Online Computer Library Center (2002) published a white paper regarding information habits of college students. The study concentrated on the web-based information habits of college students and their use of campus library websites, in particular, finding that college and university students look to campus libraries and library websites for their information needs. As confident and savvy users of electronic information resources, college students value access to accurate, up-to-date information with easily identifiable authors. They are aware of the shortcomings of information available from the web and of their needs for assistance in finding information in electronic or paper formats. The study was conducted in the United States. Their preferences for remote access affect who they seek assistance from when using the web. Since college students are more likely to be in their homes and dorms when they need help using the web, they rely upon their friends first – 61% ask a friend or classmate for help. More than one-third (36%) of students ask their professors or teaching assistants for help with sing the web, and one-in-five (21%) ask librarians. OCLC poses the following questions in the spirit of provoking discussion and action regarding librarians influence on students’ information choices on the web (presented are select questions only):

·         Web search engines and portals provide single-point access. Can libraries deliver websites that directly present and connect to relevant information from many databases, including faculty, curriculum, and administrative websites?

·         Students want assistance with using the web, but prefer face-to-face contact. Can librarians deliver the kind of personalized, interactive service that will appeal to them?

·         Students expect service providers – both electronic and bricks-and-mortal- to offer convenience, selection, quality, and a welcoming atmosphere. Can librarians create a customer-friendly experience to match the best merchants and consumer websites?

A national survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Illinois (2007) reported at how people use variety of information sources to help them address some common problems that could be related in some way to government agencies and programs. From the findings: Libraries meet special needs- Young adult in Generation Y (age 18-29) are the heaviest users of libraries when they face problems. They are also the most likely library visitors for any purpose. Most of those who visit libraries seek problem-solving information are very satisfied with what they find and they appreciate the resources available there, especially access to computers and the internet. In a turn around, in 1996 survey found that the youngest adult American, those age 18-24 years, were the least supportive of libraries and also saw libraries as becoming less important in future. These young adults form a key group of library users of today. And many librarians believe that retaining their interest will be critical to the future of public libraries. Assistance in finding information is very important, particularly for older Americans. Users who received assistance were more likely to have been successful in finding the information they needed. At least one group of library users is identified as having a specific problem: it is possible that older library users from minority groups are frustrated or confused in searching for government information at the library. This group is also less likely to say they would go back to a library to solve a problem if it comes up again.

A study on the scholarly use of information by George (et al., 2004), explored the graduate students’ information behavior as it informs their process of inquiry and scholarly activities. An in-depth, semi-structured interview was conducted with one hundred graduate students representing all disciplines and departments from Carnegie Mellon University. Graduate students often begin with a meeting with professors who provide direction, recommend and provide resources. Other students help to shape graduate students’ research activities, and university library personnel provide guidance in finding resources. The Internet plays a heavy role; though students continue to use print resources. Convenience, lack of sophistication in finding and using resources, and course requirements affect their information behavior. Findings vary across disciplines and between programmes. Libraries can influence students’ information behavior by evaluating their instruction programmes and provision of resources and services. They can take a lead by working with academic personnel to guide students. Though the non-library Internet resources are strongly evident in graduate students’ research process, the university library remains a key element. While all graduate students indicated that they use some type of library resources, more than half of all graduate students (55%) and as many as 75% said that the university library plays an important role in their research. The apparent contradiction between the reliance on university library resources while still reporting a considerable use of the broader Internet might be explained by graduate students’ preference and use of the libraries’ online services and resources.

With the increasing emphasis on using technology and access information, there was a great potential for faculty members in a university to become more reliant on both librarians and information technology specialists. Graziadei and McCombs (1996) advocated that faculty members and librarians work together to build skills in searching strategies, understand the search process, and presenting a united front in developing a university’s information policies (Fortin, 2000).

VII.          METHODOLOGY  

In order to elicit answers for researchers in their information choices this study will us questionnaire. Structured questions will be sent out to university students, faculty members, and employees in universities in Malaysia and the Philippines. The use of Social Package for Social Sciences statistical tool will be utilized to analyze the results collated from the questionnaires. However, a sample size from the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology students and faculty will serve as a pilot area to validate the questions.

 

VIII.       REFERENCES

  British Library and JISC. 2008. Information behavior of the researcher of the future,

       (January 11). http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf

 

Coyle, Karen. 2007. Managing technology, the library catalog: some possible

     futures. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 33, no. 3: 414-416.

 

Estabrook, Leigh, Evans Witt and Lee Rainie. (2007). Information searches that solve

      problems: how people use the internet, libraries, and government agencies when they

      need help. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Illinois: University of Illinois at

      Urbana-Champaign.

 

George, Carole, Alice Bright, Terry Hurlbert, Erika C. Linke, Gloriana St. Clair and Joan

      Stein. 2004. Scholarly use of information: graduate students’ information seeking

      behavior. Carnegie Mellon University Libraries.

 

Graziadei, W.D. and G.M. McCombs in Fortin, Maurice G. 2000. Faculty use of the

      World Wide Web: modeling information seeking behavior in a digital environment.

      PhD diss., University of North Texas.

 

ICOLIS 2007. Building an information society for all: proceedings of the International

      conference on libraries, information and society. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia: ICOLIS.

 

Online Computer Library Center. 2002. OCLC white paper on the information habits of

      college students: how academic librarians can influence students’ web-based

      information choices. (June). http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/community/informationhabits.pdf

      (accessed February 28, 2008).

 

Wilson, T.D. 2000. Human information behavior. Special issue on Information

      Science Research 3, no. 2. http://inform.nu/articles/Vol3/v3n2p49-56.pdf 

      (accessed March 23, 2008).