Health Information Seeking Behaviour among Users in the College of Health Sciences Library, the University of Ghana amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the information needs and information-seeking behaviour among library users in the CHS Library, the University of Ghana amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopted the survey design to select 128 respondents using the convenience sampling technique with a response rate of 68.75 per cent. The study found that most respondents were competent health information literates. Moreover, most users look for health information to gain a better understanding of the causes, severity, and prognosis of a disease. Again, most respondents demonstrated that their main source of health information during the COVID-19 pandemic was the internet followed by medical databases. The findings also indicated that major challenges encountered in seeking health information by most respondents were internet connectivity followed by lack of time and inadequate library resources. Earlier studies have focused on health information and there is relatively little research on health information provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study provides insights into the information needs and information-seeking behaviour among library users during the pandemic in a developing country setting.