Investigating and comparing information seeking behavior of post-graduate students of Kurdistan and Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj branch on the World Wide Web

Dissertation for Master's degree in librarianship and information

Abstract

The present study examines and compares the information seeking behavior of graduate students of Kurdistan and Islamic Azad University, Sasandaj branch, on the World Wide Web based on the Ellis model. The research method is a survey and the data is collected through a questionnaire. The statistical sample of the current research population consists of 297 and 302 graduate students of Kurdistan University and Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj branch, respectively. The sample size was determined using Morgan's table, and of the mentioned number, 269 students in Kurdistan University and 281 students in Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj branch answered and returned the questionnaires. Stratified random sampling method was used for sampling. The analysis of the collected data was done using the non-parametric Yeoman-Whitney test in the 16th edition of SPSS statistical software. The results of the research showed that there is a significant difference between the students of the two universities in all stages of the information-seeking behavior of the Ellis model, and the students of Kurdistan University have shown a higher level of information-seeking behavior.

Keywords: Information-seeking behavior, graduate students, University of Kurdistan, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj branch, Alice's information-seeking behavior pattern, World Wide Web

Introduction

The current age is known as the information age. Information is the raw material of knowledge that guides our complex economic, social, political and cultural life and in this sense is a vital element for the continuation of life. The production and breadth of information has faced us with a phenomenon called information explosion, and no researcher is able to be aware of the latest information achievements of the specialized field and the topics of his interest step by step with the published materials in that field. Information and its multiplicity have led to problems in accessing available information. Researchers are bound to be in information channels that cause the emergence of information-seeking behavior. Information-seeking behavior originates from the recognition of information needs (Cary Class, 2013).

The Internet, especially the World Wide Web, despite its almost two-decade life, today is used as one of the main conduits for accessing information by millions of users, including students. The popularity of this media among students is due to the variety of facilities that it provides in terms of access to a huge amount of information, communication and information sharing platform. The influence of this network in the process of research and education is such that its existence cannot be ignored in other universities today, and every year a significant part of the universities' budget is spent on creating infrastructures and access facilities to Internet information resources, including hardware and software requirements, human resources, and the like. Thus, investigation and study to understand the information needs and information seeking behavior of information users in the Internet network environment is of particular importance and helps planning and policy-making in this regard.

The investigation of human information seeking behavior has long been of interest to researchers in the field of information, and numerous experts have each presented their own models in this field based on different approaches. Among the most important models of information-seeking behavior that have been proposed so far by experts, we can refer to the patterns of Wilson [1], Ellis [2], Kolthau [3], Derwin [4] and Belkin [5] (Nokarizi and Davrpanah, 2016).

These steps work with different levels of accuracy and attention, and finally, it is the searcher who chooses and collects information based on his specific needs, and based on this principle, suggests a model for searchers' information-seeking behavior. He admits that his model can be implemented and used mostly in the Internet environment, which mainly uses special tools such as controlled vocabulary (Nowrozi Chakli, 2015).  Therefore, in researches such as the present research, given that it takes place in the web domain, Ellis's pattern of information seeking behavior is considered.

1-2. Statement of the problem

Researches and existing texts indicate that since the 1990s, the Internet has transformed various aspects of users' lives and information-seeking behavior.Scholars such as Shawder [6] (1994), McClure [7] (1994) and Pesco [8] (1996) believe that the effect of the Internet on the information seeking behavior of users is valuable and can be investigated. According to them, by making the flow of contributions, dissemination of ideas, accessibility and updating of information easier, the networks have made university users, especially post-graduate students, widely use these networks for exchanging ideas, research, education and updating their information. Based on this, the researchers have emphasized the need to carry out research in order to determine the needs and obstacles, and provide ways to optimally use this network. Because our knowledge about how to effectively use networks should increase along with the growth of information networks themselves. The main reason for dealing with the issue of how to use the network arises from the fact that since the widespread use of electronic resources, the pattern of information seeking behavior of users is also changing. Currently, it is possible that the searcher can retrieve hundreds of citations or information sources by computer in a shorter period of time than it takes to find a citation in a manual system (Mehrad, 1372 (

The use of the Internet in Iran has also expanded greatly so that most organizations, research centers and have made the use of the Internet available to researchers and researchers. Meanwhile, the opportunity to use the Internet among the academic community is very important. Due to the special role it plays in the reconstruction and promotion of social, economic, cultural infrastructure, etc., it is necessary to know the methods of accessing scientific resources in a professional and specialized manner. It is more familiar with research, which, if used correctly and rationally, will provide a fast, affordable and efficient mechanism to access the information they need.

The possibility of using the web for students is also available at Islamic Azad University of Kurdistan and Sanandaj branch. Although the goals of creating and launching these extensive facilities are to provide better and more services to academic students and researchers or in general, academic users, but so far there has been no research on their information seeking behavior, especially how to search, access, track (locate), the desired criteria for evaluating and identifying useful websites, as well as how to retrieve and extract information among graduate students and their similarities and differences in the World Wide Web. Therefore, the desired problem of the present research is to address the mentioned subject and its purpose is to study the information-seeking behavior of graduate students of the two mentioned universities.

1-3. Necessity and importance of the problem

In the age of information and with the advent of advanced information technologies that increase the scope of information day by day, researchers, university professors and especially postgraduate students are facing problems and obstacles in searching and obtaining the scientific, educational and research information they need in the web environment. Therefore, the information seeking behavior of the users has changed and is important due to the current developments in new information technologies as well as the need of the users to update the required information. Therefore, investigating how to search and access all types of information quickly and easily is one of the important issues for conducting research (Salajqa, 2014).

One of the issues that have occupied the minds of researchers in information behavior is to find out what search methods and mechanisms of quality review of information sources and search tools, searchers use to explore the Internet and take advantage of other web resources and services, and how to have sufficient skills in using web search tools and processes. It can be effective in retrieving more relevant and better quality results (Islami and Agriculture, 2015). Therefore, investigating the information seeking behavior of users, officials and information centers will help in providing appropriate services and more detailed planning. The lack of proper knowledge of the user community and their information needs often leads to confusion and increases the probability of not achieving the goals of the information system, and it is obvious that it will lead to the waste of existing funds (Salimi, 2016).