Purpose – The purpose of this review is to draw out patterns of information seeking behavior of graduate students as described in the empirical research published from 1997 to the present.Design/methodology/approach – A systematic search of databases for studies on information behavior and graduate students was employed in order to retrieve studies for a systematic review. Common themes that emerged from the literature were synthesized into a discussion of behavior patterns. Additionally a study quality analysis was conducted for all retrieved studies using a critical appraisal checklist for library and information research.Findings – This review revealed that graduate students begin their research on the internet much like any other information seeker, consult their faculty advisors before other people, and use libraries in diverse ways depending on the discipline studied. Additionally differences were noted between international and home students, and doctoral and master's students.Practical implication...

Patterns of graduate students' information seeking behavior: a meta‐synthesis of the literature

Millennial Students' Mental Models of Search: Implications for Academic Librarians and Database Developers

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc944366/m2/1/high_res_d/knezek_3075.pdf

Information Seeking, Information Sharing, and going mobile: Three bridges to informal learning

Purpose – This paper aims to demonstrate the role that the Google general search engine plays in the information‐seeking behaviour of scientists, particularly physicists and astronomers.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a mixed‐methods study including 56 semi‐structured interviews, a questionnaire survey of 114 respondents (47 per cent response rate) and the use of information‐event cards to collect critical incident data. The study was conducted at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College, London.Findings – The results show that Google is the tool most used for problem‐specific information seeking. The results also show the growing reliance of scientists on general search engines, particularly Google, for finding scholarly articles. Initially, finding scholarly articles was a by‐product of general searching for information rather than focused searches for papers. However, a growing number of articles read by scientists are identified through the Google general searc...

Google and the scholar: the role of Google in scientists' information‐seeking behaviour

Three complexity levels of information problems are defined related to psychology domain.40 students in psychology and in other domains performed information problems with an online encyclopedia.Students in psychology performed better than the others, especially for complex problems.Students in psychologies used more relevant strategies than the others.These expertise-related differences are stronger for the complex problems. This study addresses the impact of domain expertise (i.e. of prior knowledge of the domain) on the performance and query strategies used by users while searching for information. Twenty-four experts (psychology students) and 24 non-experts (students from other disciplines) had to search for psychology information from the Universalis website in order to perform six information problems of varying complexity: two simple problems (the keywords required to complete the task were provided in the problem statement), two more difficult problems (the keywords required had to be inferred) and two impossible problems (no answer was provided by the website). The results showed that participants with prior knowledge in the domain (experts in psychology) performed better (i.e. reached more correct answers after shorter search times) than non-experts. This difference was stronger as the complexity of the problems increased. This study also showed that experts and non-experts displayed different query strategies. Experts reformulated the impossible problems more often than non-experts, because they produced new queries with psychology-related keywords. The participants rarely used thematic category tool and when they did so this did not enhance their performance.

Query strategies during information searching

Introduccion. Este estudio exploro el comportamiento de informacion de estudiantes graduados relativo a su proceso de investigacion y las actividades eruditas.
Metodo. Se realizaron entrevistas semi-estructuradas en profundidad a cien estudiantes graduados representativos de todas las disciplinas y departamentos de la Universidad Carnegie Mellon.
Analisis. Trabajando en parejas, codificamos las transcripciones de las entrevistas en categorias significativas usando el software ATLAS.ti. Se intento reducir la subjetividad mediante el uso combinado de analisis cuantitativo y cualitativo.
Resultados. Los estudiantes graduados empiezan a menudo con una reunion con profesores que proporcionan la orientacion, recomiendan y proporcionan recursos. Otros estudiantes ayudan a dar forma a las actividades de investigacion de los estudiantes graduados, y el personal de la biblioteca universitaria proporciona orientaciones para encontrar recursos. Internet juega un papel principal, aunque los estudiantes continuan usando recursos impresos. La conveniencia, la falta de sofisticacion en la busqueda y uso de recursos y los requisitos del curso afectan su comportamiento de informacion. Los resultados varian segun las disciplinas y los programas.
Conclusion. Las bibliotecas pueden influir en el comportamiento de informacion de estudiantes reevaluando sus programas instruccionales y proporcionando recursos y servicios. Pueden tomar la delantera trabajando con el personal academico para orientar a los estudiantes.

/pdf/scholarly-use-of-information-graduate-students-information-2mobq7uwix.pdf

Scholarly use of information: graduate students' information seeking behaviour

Purpose



– The paper aims to give a presentation of a rich dataset to illuminate graduate students' rating of their satisfaction with library collections and services.




Design/methodology/approach



– The study is a qualitative investigation based on focus groups.




Findings



– The paper finds that, although rich detail is provided, the study is part way through and data need more analysis for trends to emerge.




Research limitations/implications



– The study is a research project which is ongoing.




Practical implications



– Rich data collected are indicating areas for improvement in service, which will be synthesized as the research progresses.




Originality/value



– It is rare for data of this richness to be offered to readers. It will help others by confirming or illuminating their own investigations.

In their own words: A preliminary report on the value of the internet and the library in graduate student research

Using a survey sheet devised in-house in the spring of 2001, cataloging staff at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries monitored the amount of time required to catalog materials from receipt in the Acquisitions Department to shelf-ready status and the factors affecting cataloging time. Monographs, music scores, videos, and theses were among the materials cataloged by a combined total of 7 1/2 catalogers and library associates who completed the survey. Among the factors tracked by participants were how materials were acquired (e.g., order or gift), existence/completeness of cataloging copy, and issues related to the use of OCLC and the local library management system. This article reports some of the results of the survey and what they revealed about the amount of time required to catalog broad categories of materials as well as detailed information about the effects of specific factors on cataloging time.

Factors Affecting Cataloging Time: An In-House Survey

In spring 2007, the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries began the switch from using the Dewey Decimal Classification to the Library of Congress Classification. This article includes the reason for the changeover and describes the process by which the change was made. The project, done mostly in-house, involved members of all units of the libraries, with outside workers hired only to label, sort, and shift books. Various teams or working groups took the lead on different portions of the project, which included mapping the library, hiring and training, supervising the workers, and publicity. The difficulties encountered and solutions to resolve them are discussed, as are the lessons learned from the project.

Terry Hurlbert

Papers

Scholarly use of information: graduate students' information seeking behaviour

In their own words: A preliminary report on the value of the internet and the library in graduate student research

Factors Affecting Cataloging Time: An In-House Survey

Minding Our Ps and Qs: An Adventure in Reclassification