Information Seeking Behaviour of Graduate Students of University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

The study evaluates how the graduate students behave towards seeking knowledge they need for academic activities in the institution. The study used exploratory qualitative research design. The population of the study was the graduates of University of Agriculture Abeokuta (UNAAB) for 2010/2011 session. An in-depth semi structured interview was explored to examine their information seeking behaviour. The study revealed that inaccessibility and ease of use were the major factors affecting the choice of information resources by the students and that the influences of people like lecturers and lead scholars in the institution shape and reshape the approach of students to information seeking behaviour. It was also observed that e-journals, agricultural CD-ROMs, handbooks and reference materials were the important sources of information to these students. However, lack of time, unawareness, information overload and epileptic power supply were the challenges hindering their information seeking. The study concluded that the information seeking behaviour of these students was more organized than being random and the use of internet do not improve the information use skills of the students, Thus, it was suggested that librarians should trigger their ability to validate sources of information that the students utilized to improve their relevancy, and they should train the lead scholars that the students consulted when they need information.

Keywords Information Seeking Behaviour, Graduate Students, University of Agriculture