Information Seeking Behaviour of Graduate Students of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (Upsa)

Abstract

A study of the information seeking behaviour of students is an important pre-requisite for a library to provide efficient information resources and services to meet their information needs. The purpose of the study is to investigate the information needs, information sources, information seeking behaviours, library use, and challenges to information seeking behaviour of graduate students of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA). The study employed the survey methodology. Stratified random sampling was used to select 121 graduate students from a population of 804 to participate in the study. The main data collection instrument was the questionnaire. The data was analysed descriptively by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The main information needs of students identified in the study include career information, self-development, employment, course information, health, entertainment, sports, and religion. They use five main categories of information sources: interpersonal, internet, mass media, electronic and print. The internet was the main source of information even though they also indicate the use of the library. Their information seeking behaviours include active search, passive search, and ongoing search. The challenges they encountered in seeking information are mostly technical, which are, unstable internet connection, low internet speed, issues regarding accessibility using password, and inadequate computers. The study concluded that it is important for the university authorities to work together with the library to address these problems so that the information needs of students are fully met to enhance their academic work.