Information seeking behaviour of humanities and social sciences undergraduates at South Eastern University of Sri Lanka

Abstract

This research is taken up to study the information seeking Behaviour of undergraduates of Faculty of Arts and Culture and Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic Language at South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, with special reference to their information needs, main sources of information and barriers they encountered in meeting these needs. This study employed a survey research design and therefore the structured questionnaire was among 187 students to collect data. Study sample (N161) is characterized by the 79% female undergraduates and 98% Tamil language speaking undergraduate students. The findings of the study established that information needs of the undergraduates are led by prepare for examination. A great majority of the students indicated that lecture notes as their main information source, while 76% rated university library and the Internet (63%) is followed by. They start seeking for information, using lecture notes (86%), inquiring from the senior students (74.53%) and browsing internet. Challenges encountered while seeking for information is attributed to both institutional and personal reasons. Since it is established undergraduates are not in a closer relationship with the library professionals, with a view to provide them with a more conducive learning environment, and effective and productive services, it is recommended to reach out students by conducting frequent information literacy skill programmes.