College of Business, Hospitality & Tourism

Studies
School of Management
Department of Office Administration and LIS

Industrial Attachment Project

STUDENT NAME KRISHNEEL KUNAL

PRASAD
ID S2007003981
PROGRAMME OF STUDY HIGHER EDUCATION CERTIFICATE IN
LIBRARY & INFORMATION SYSTEMS
ATTACHMENT ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY
SERVICES
TITLE OF PROJECT FACTORS AFFECTING
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS'
INFORMATION-SEEKING IN THE ELECTRONIC
ENVIRONMENT AT THE COLLEGE OF
HUMANITIES AND EDUCATION, FIJI
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, NATABUA LAUTOKA,
FIJI
YEAR 2021
 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this Project Report titled “Factors affecting Undergraduate students’
information-seeking in the electronic environment at the College of Humanities and Education,
Fiji National University, Natabua, Lautoka” is based on my own work carried out during the
course of our study.
To the best of my knowledge, the information and data presented in the report are authentic.
This Project Report has never been submitted to or published by any other university or
institution for the purpose of receiving a certificate, diploma, degree, or fellowship.

Name Krishneel Kunal Prasad

ID S2007003981
Signature
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I'd like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in completing this project. I'd like
to express my gratitude to the following people:
1. The Project Supervisor of Fiji National University Library (Dr. Tanveer Naqvi).
2. The Staff of Fiji National University Library (Natabua Campus).
3. The FNU students who took time in filling out questionnaires.
 ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to look into the factors that influence undergraduate students'
information-seeking in an electronic environment at Fiji National University's College of
Humanities and Education in Natabua, Lautoka. A library's ability to provide effective
information resources and facilities to meet students' information needs includes a study of their
information seeking behavior. The study's objective is to investigate undergraduate students'
information needs, information sources, information seeking behaviors, library use, and
information seeking challenges. Through stratified random sampling, 100 undergraduate students
were chosen using the survey methodology. The main data collection method was a
questionnaire. Career information, self-development, employment, course information (Moodle,
turnitin, etc.,), research materials (prescribed textbooks), entertainment, sports, and religion are
among the most common information needs found by students in the report. The study showed
that students’ use different sources of information such as interpersonal, internet, mass media,
electronic, and print. Active searching, passive search, and ongoing search are some of their
information-seeking behaviors. The challenges faced by the students in search for information
were mainly technological, such as unstable internet connection, low internet speed, issues
regarding accessibility using password, and inadequate computers. The research concluded that it
is important for FNU academic faculty members to coordinate with the library to resolve these
issues so that students' information needs are adequately met and their learning outcome is
enhanced.
TABLE OF CONTENT
 CHAPTER – 1

INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In academic libraries, users use both traditional and electronic information systems,
giving them a variety of options for meeting their information needs. Wilson (2000)
defines information seeking behavior as "the purposive seeking of information as a
consequence of a need to meet some goal" (p. 49). He asserts that people fulfill their
information needs using both manual and computer-based information systems.
According to Wilson (2000), factors such as information sources that enable users to use
the information, as well as the users' characteristics, affect these needs. To satisfy those
needs, the person consults a variety of sources.

According to Veloutsou, Paton, and Lewis (2005), there are three types of information
sources: controllable information sources such brochures, booklets, CDs, and
institutional websites; non-controllable information sources through friends, family
members, and the media; and partly controllable and partly non-controllable information
sources such as brochures, booklets, CDs, and institutional websites.

Libraries is one of the graduate's main sources of information. The availability of

information is important, but it is the students' use of the information that is crucial,
since that is the only way for the information to become knowledge (Olajide & Otunla,
2015).

Information and communication technologies (ICT) play a critical role in accessing and
disseminating information in this knowledge age. As a result, it is necessary to
investigate library user behavior. The fundamental purpose of higher learning institutions is
to prepare the students for their better future. If the undergraduate students are to be
 successful in their studies their information need and information seeking should be in line
with the fast and dynamically changing information sources. This research will assist
libraries in improving their information science collections and providing better services in
conjunction with user information needs and information seeking behavior.

LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Case (2002), information seeking is a normal daily practice that becomes more
popular when one must make a major life decision or complete a task within a certain amount of
time. In such cases, the person continues to seek knowledge from a variety of sources before his
or her need is met or their purpose is achieved. Other times, information seeking is triggered
when a person unintentionally becomes interested in a subject and chooses to educate himself or
herself about it. This type of information gathering is not motivated by a particular objective. In
the recent past, a number of studies were conducted to determine how users seek information in
various types of libraries around the world. Here are some of the surveys that have been
conducted in this sense.
Fatima, Nishat, and Ahmad (2008) investigated college students' information seeking behavior
to determine their perception of and the use of library services. The survey's results showed that
library facilities and resources could be used more frequently. According to Kakai and others
(2004) students' information seeking behavior included active or purposeful information as a
result of the need to complete course assignments, prepare for class discussions, lectures,
workshops, conferences, and write final year research papers. At Nayang Technological
University in Singapore, Majid and Tan (2002) investigated the information needs and seeking
behavior of computer engineering undergraduate students. The aim was to figure out what kinds
of information sources students used, what information formats they favored, and how they used
different electronic information sources. The use of databases and electronic journals was found
to be very limited. Fidzani (1998) conducted a survey of 144 graduate students at the University
of Botswana to assess their information seeking behavior and usage of information resources.
The study's aim was to find out what their information needs were and if they were aware of the
library resources that were available to them. Khan, Khan, and Bhatti (2011) looked into internet
access, use, and satisfaction among university students using the Islamia University of
Bahawalpur as a case study. The data was collected using a questionnaire, and the report used
survey methods. According to the findings, the majority of students choose to use the Google
search engine (83%). Furthermore, Science Direct was the chosen database (25%). The majority
of students face a number of challenges, including trouble locating relevant information, a lack
of knowledge about advanced searching, insufficient computers, and an abundance of
information. Shakeel Ahmed, G. T., and Vinayagamoorthy, P. (2013) conducted research into the
information seeking behavior of business school students at universities and colleges in
Academic City, Dubai, UAE. It was discovered that the majority of the sources used by students
are for academic purposes, with the internet and electronic media being the most common
resources. Padnzamma, S., and others (2010) studied undergraduate students' information
seeking behavior in engineering college libraries and discovered that the internet is the most
prominent information source used by the students.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main goal of this research is to explore the factors that affects undergraduate students’
information-seeking in the electronic environment at the College of Humanities and Education,
Fiji National University, Natabua, Lautoka. Therefore, the specific objectives of the study are as
follows:
 To investigate the information needs of undergraduate students.
 To find out the use of information resources and services.
 To determine the purpose of use information resources and services.
 To assess the satisfaction level with the available information resources and services.
 To find out the challenges they encounter in seeking information.

METHODOLOGY

The study employed both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. The data was gathered
through a survey process. The instrument used to collect data was a structured questionnaire. A
random sample of 100 undergraduate students was chosen at random and given questionnaires,
which were 80 completed and returned for procession. The data was processed, and the results
were tabulated using percentages and frequencies under the appropriate headings.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Library Use

Table 1.0 Frequency of library visit

Visit to Library Undergraduates Percentage
Daily 29 36
Occasionally 16 20
2-3 times in a week 15 19
Weekly 10 13
Monthly 10 13
Total 80 100

Figure1.1

Frequency of visit to library

12.50%
Daily
12.50% 36.25% Occasionally
2-3 times in a week
Weekly
Monthly
18.75%
20.00%
The above illustrations depicts that out of 80, 29 (36%) students visit the library every day , and
16 (20%) occasionally , 15 (19%) 2-3 times a week , weekly and monthly both 10 (13%). This
indicates that most of the students make use of the library to meet their information needs.

Table 2.0 Purpose for seeking information

Purposes of looking for Users Percentage(%)

information
Career development 64 80
Current Affairs 49 62
For research / assignment 67 84
work
Entertainment 28 35

Figure 2.1 Information Need

Purpose of seeking information

80% 84%
90% 62%
80%
70% 35%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
t s k t
m
en fair wor m
en
p A t in
elo nt en rta
ev r re m te
rd Cu ign En
e ss
re / a
Ca
rch
sea
r re
Fo
Percentage

According to the study of the reasons respondents seek information and visit the library (Table
2.0), their information needs are mainly cognitive or course-related. Majority of the students
indicated that they seek information on research / assignment work (84%) and career
development (80%).

Methods of information-seeking behavior

Table 3.0 Methods of Information-seeking behavior

Methods of Information- Number of Users Percentage(%)
seeking
Google search engine/Google 67
scholar
Browse the internet 64
Use of OPAC 53
Social Media(Facebook) 59
Moodle 60
Use of OPAC 45
Search e-databases 42
References

Case, D. O. (2002). Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking, needs
and behaviour. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Wilson, T. D. (2000). Human Information Behaviour. Information science, 3(2), 49-55.

Shakeel Ahmed, G. T. and Vinazagamoorthy, P. (2013). “Information seeking behaviour of

business schools students: a special study of universities and colleges located in Academic City,
Dubai, UAE”, International Journal of Library and Information Science, Vol.5, No.11, pp.447-
456.

Moly, T.M. 2014, "Information Need and Information Seeking Behavior of Information Science
Students in Haramaya University, Ethiopia", International Research : Journal of Library and
Information Science, vol. 4, no. 2

Padnzamma, S. S., Radhika, and Sunitha. (2010). “Information seeking behaviour of users of
PESITEM, Shimoga: a study”, SRELS Journal of Information Managment, Vol. 47, No.6,
pp.699-708.