A study of the information seeking behavior of undergraduate students of Makerere University

Abstract

This study investigated the information needs and seeking behavior of undergraduate students of Makerere University. A cross-sectional survey was carried out, with samples from first, second, and third year undergraduate students selected from the Department of BioChemistry in the Faculty of Science, and the Department of History in the Faculty of Arts, to represent the disciplines of the Humanities with BA (Arts) and Scientists with B.Sc. The findings noted that Makerere University undergraduate students follow only five of Ellis' six generic information seeking activities summarized as: starting, browsing, chaining, monitoring and extracting. The study established the major factors that influence the students' information seeking behaviors. The results obtained also indicate what students rely on most as their information sources. It is suggested that the library would benefit the undergraduate students better if more attention were paid to sensitization and training programs, as well as publicity and promotion of information resources and services. Automating the procedures of use was also recommended for easy and quick information retrieval.