INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOR OF

COLLEGE STUDENT OF NONESCOST

Tayco , Eurika May A. Oliveros , Juneva M.

 Chapter I
BACKGROUND /RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

•Information plays a crucial role in our daily lives. To meet their information needs, individuals employ

diverse methods and explore different contexts. The internet and technology have greatly facilitated the process of

gathering information (Singh et al., 2015; Silva & Chandrawamsa, 2016).

•Nowadays, individuals have varying information needs for personal, professional, and social purposes. This

process of investigating, searching, selecting, and sharing information is known as information-seeking behavior.

(Manjunath & Babu, 2018).

 The term "information-seeking behavior" has been used in professional literature since the mid-twentieth

century (Manjunath & Babu, 2018). They seek information from diverse sources, including libraries, which offer a

wide range of resources such as books, journals, encyclopedias, theses, dissertations, and online academic databases

(Rafiq & Ameen, 2009; Khan & Khan, 2020).

In the digital age, digital libraries play a vital role in meeting individuals' information needs and supporting

study, learning, and teaching. College students heavily rely on these libraries for research tasks like topic selection,

literature review, database searching, data analysis techniques, information searching skills, information literacy,

publishing, citation analysis, and thesis writing. Consequently, they frequently utilize the library (Khan and Khan,

2020).
• When seeking information, individuals encounter different obstacles that can be classified as either external
or internal barriers. External barriers encompass limitations in space, time, and socio-cultural factors.
(Savolainen, 2016; Savolainen, 2015; Lambert, Loiselle & Macdonald, 2009; Balog, Badurine and Lisek,
2018).
 The outcome of this study is expected to give an insight into the information needs and information seeking

behavior of College Students face to face the purpose of such information, the utilization and problems encountered

in the seeking process. The findings from this study would contribute to the understanding of the differences in

information needs and information seeking behavior of College students based on their faculties and course of study

in the university of Nonescost. Thus, this will help in developing a strategy which will be geared toward meeting the

information needs and information seeking behavior of respective College students.

 Statement of the Problem

• This study aims to evaluate the information seeking behavior of college student of
NONESCOST.
 Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions:

1.What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

1. Gender

2. Program

3. Year level

2. What are the specific information requirements of college students at NONESCOST Old Sagay

Campus?

3. What sources do college students commonly utilize to fulfill their information needs within the NONESCOST Old Sagay

Campus?
 4. What are the preferred tools do college students

utilize in seeking information inside the library?

5. What specific challenges do college students

encounter when searching for the information they

require at NONESCOST Old Sagay Campus?

 Theoretical Framework

This study will be anchored with Ellis' Information-Seeking Behavior Model by David Ellis (1993) forms

the foundational stages through which students navigate their quest for information: from initiating their

search, chaining through citations, and browsing semi-directed resources, to differentiating between

relevant sources, monitoring specialized developments, and selectively extracting pertinent material.
 •Concurrently, Kuhlthau's Information Search Process (ISP) Model (2018) outlines the cognitive journey

students undertake, beginning with recognizing their information need, selecting relevant sources, exploring and

formulating ideas, collecting pertinent information, and culminating in effective presentation. Developed by Carol

Kuhlthau, this model describes the stages individuals go through during the information-seeking process. The

stages include initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection, and presentation. Understanding how

college students navigate through these stages can offer insights into their information-seeking behavior.
 Conceptual Framework
INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

NONESCOST Their Information

Students needs
Information
Gender Preferred Materials in
Seeking
Program seeking information
Behavior
Year Level Preferred tools in
seeking information
Challenges encountered
 The findings of the study will be beneficial to the following:

Administration. The result of this study would help the administration to

be aware of the different information seeking behavior’s of the students. As

the admin of the school, it must be active in supporting the library and its

resources in order to serve the students effectively in their varied

information needs.

Teachers. The outcome of this study will serve as a guide for teachers

to reinforce to students to utilize varied materials in seeking specific

information in the library.

• Librarian. This study will guide the librarian to know the strengths and weaknesses of different library resources and be able

to develop it for the benefit of all its users, especially the students.

• Students. This study aims to help them utilize varied library resources in searching for certain information and for them to be

able to know or to be aware of the usefulness of a specific library resources.

• Researcher/s. This study may help amplify information to the researcher in their future research or researches and may

serve as guide for other students who will conduct a study related to the information seeking behaviour of college students.

•
 Scope and Limitations of the Study

• This study focuses on determining the information seeking behavior of the college students of
NONESCOST in Old Sagay Campus. The participants of this study belong to the following
programs: Bachelor of Library of Library and Information Science (BLIS), Bachelor of Science and
Information System (BSIT), Bachelor of Science Entertainment and Multimedia (BSIS), Bachelor of
Science in Fisheries (BSFI), Bachelor of Science in Biology (BSBIO), and Bachelor of Arts in
English Language Studies (BAELS).
 Definitions of the Terms

• Behavior. The actions which an organism adjusts to its environment(“Glossary of Psychological Terms,”

2002).

• College Students. This term refers to the college students who are the respondents of the study, from 1 st year to

4th year of Nonescost Old Sagay Campus.

• Information. It is a knowledge communicated concerning some particular fact, subject or event; that of which

one is apprised or told (Sveiby, 1998).

• As used in this study as the main ingredient that Nonescost College students are seeking for inside the

library.

•
• Information Seeking. It is the process or activity of attempting to obtain information in both human

technological contexts. It is related to, but different from information retrieval (Wilson, 2000).

• As used in the study refers to the process of how the Nonescost College students locate information in

the library.

• Information Seeking Behavior. It includes those activities a person may engage in when identifying their own

needs for information, searching for such information in any way, and using or transferring that information

(Kakai et al., 2004).

•
 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In today's world, people have diverse information needs that are essential for their personal, professional, and
social lives. Scholars argue that these information needs vary from person to person. Information needs, as
described by Kalbande (2019), pertain to the transformation of data through processing and manipulation into
meaningful and practical formats. Kalbande (2019) asserts that information is a fundamental aspect of modern
society that everyone relies on, and individuals utilize this information based on their specific requirements
(Silva & Chandrawamsa, 2016). Manjunath and Babu (2018).
 Additionally, as Howlader and Islam (2019) discovered through various research publications, College students

exhibited inadequate information-seeking behavior. This was attributed to factors such as limited awareness of

library resources and services, the absence of information literacy instruction in universities, insufficient training

opportunities, difficulties in utilizing information access tools and systems, inadequate familiarity with using OPAC

(Online Public Access Catalog), uncooperative attitudes of librarians, and the absence of a well-structured

information system that meets their needs.

 •Therefore, the current study is conducted to examine the information needs of the users, information

sources they are using for accessing information, and information-seeking behaviors of the users, library

use in the current age. Moreover, the study identifies the challenges the College students face while

searching for their needed information.

•
 CHAPTER III

Methodology
• This chapter covers the methodology used in the study such as research design,
locale of the study, respondents of this study, research instrument, its validity and reliability,
the data gathering procedures, and the statistical treatment.
• Research Design

• This study used the quantitative method. This method is used to gather and analyze the data about the

respondents’ profiles and determine their preferred source of information and their information seeking behavior.

According to Williams et al. (022), quantitative research entails: studies where the gathered and coded data can

be expressed as numerical values.

References

Cole, C. (2012). Information Need: A Theory Connecting

Information. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today,
Inc. Retrieved from http://books infotoday.com/assist

/Information-Need.shtml.
Frick, P. J. (2018). Information seeking behavior in the
digital age: A multidisciplinary study of academic
researchers. Emerald Insight.

Glossary of Psychological Terms.(2002).Retrieved Febuary 15,

2016, from http://www.apa.org/research/action/glossary.
aspx.

Gyesi, K.(2020). Information Seeking Behaviour of Graduate

Students of the University of Professional Studies,
Accra (UPSA). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-
journal),4155.
• Locale of the Study

• This study will be conducted at NONESCOST old Sagay Campus. Located at Brgy. Old Sagay, Sagay

City, Negros Occidental.

• Respondents of the Study

• The Respondents of the study will be the students of these following programs; Bachelor of Library of Library and

Information Science (BLIS), Bachelor of Science and Information System (BSIT), Bachelor of Science Entertainment and

Multimedia (BSIS), Bachelor of Science in Fisheries (BSFI), Bachelor of Science in Biology (BSBIO), and Bachelor of

Arts in English Language Studies (BAELS)in Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology (NONESCOST)

academic year 2023-2024. A sample size of 338 which taken from the total of populations of 2177 will be selected using

Slovins formula. A stratified sampling technique will be

• used in order to have a well-represented of each programs.

Table 1 shows the distribution of response.
Table 1
Distributions of the Respondents

Program N (Population) n (sample)

CICTE 1,299 201
CAS 603 94
CFAS 275 43

Total 2,177 338

Research instrument

A self- made survey questionnaire was used as the main instrument of this study in order to collect data on determining the

information seeking behavior of college students of Nonescost Old Sagay Campus. Items appearing there in were based on the

researcher’s understanding, experiences and observations. The self- made survey questionnaire was composed of five (5)

parts. Part I covered the profile of students which covers on the course and year level, department they belong and sex. Part II

of the questionnaire asked about the specific information requirement of Nonescost Old Sagay Students. Part III of the

questionnaire asked What sources students commonly utilize to fulfill their information Needs. Part IV of the questionnaire

asked about their preferred tools in utilize in seeking information inside the library. Part V asks about the specific challenges

encounter when searching information.

• Validity of the Research Instrument

• A research instrument is regarded to be valid only if it measures what its purpose to measure (Sevilla.
1992). A data gathering instrument is valid if it can gather the data, which the investigation really aims to gather,
that is, if the instrument could gather the data suited to the specific purposes of the study. The researcher-made
survey questionnaire patterned from the review of the related literature and studies, will be subjected to face and
content validation using Goods and Scates validation criteria and to be validated by experts in the field of
research. The comments and suggestions of the validators will serve as basis for the finalization of the
instrument. The validity index of ____ is obtained, showing that the instrument is deemed valid .
• Reliability of the Research Instrument

• To ensure the effectiveness in the collection of data in this study, the questionnaire used, should be valid and
reliable. It is said that reliability for a procedure is essential before its validity can be considered and the actual
reliability sets the ceiling for the maximum validity the instrument possesses (Fox, 1998). After ensuring the
validity of the questionnaire, it was subjected to reliability test using Cronbach Alpha method. The validated
questionnaire will be administered to 30 students who will not be part of the actual respondents. The obtained
reliability index is ____, which shows that the questionnaire is reliable .
• Data Gathering Procedure

In conducting the study, a letter was addressed to the Dean of Information Communication Technology and
Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Agriculture and Fisheries to distribute the survey
instrument to the target respondents. Another letter will be sent to the Registrar to obtained the total enrollees.
The sample size will be 338 students from the different programs, The research instrument will be validated and
tested for its reliability, and the researchers will reproduce copies of questionnaires consist 338 copies. The
Researchers will be distributing the questionnaires to the respondents face to face, after that the researchers
explains the questionnaires and how to answer, Accomplished questionnaire will be gathered, sorted, tallied,
tabulated, analyzed and interpreted. After such approval, the researcher will distribute the questionnaires to the
respondents.
• Statistical Treatment /Tools

• The following statistical tools will be used to treat the data gathered.
• For problem 1, the frequency distribution and percentage were used to answer the research questions
regarding the respondent’s demographic profile, such as gender, program and year enrolled. According to Korb
(2013), the percentage is calculated by dividing the frequency in the category by the total number of participants
and multiplying it by 100%.
 •For problem 2, mean and standard deviation was used the respondent’sspecific requirements. To interpret the result, the

following table of interpretation was used.

•Mean Interpretation

•4.21 – 5.00 Strongly Agree

•3.41 – 4.20 Agree

•2.61 – 3.40 Neither Agree/Disagree

•1.81 – 2.60 Disagree

•1.00 – 1.80 Strongly Disagree

•
 •For problem 3, mean and standard deviation was used the respondent’s sources commonly utilize to fulfill their

information needs. To interpret the result, the following table of interpretation was used.

•Mean Interpretation

•4.21 – 5.00 Strongly Agree

•3.41 – 4.20 Agree

•2.61 – 3.40 Neither Agree/Disagree

•1.81 – 2.60 Disagree

• 1.00 – 1.80 Strongly Disagree
 •For problem 4, mean and standard deviation was used to the respondents’ preferred tools utilize in seeking

information inside the library. The interpret result, the following table interpretation was used.

• Mean Interpretation

• 4.21 - 5.00 Most Preferred

•3.41 - 4.20 Oftentimes

•2.61 - 3.40 Sometimes Preferred

•1.81 - 2.60 Not Preferred

•1.00 - 1.80 Not Available

• For problem 5, mean and standard deviation was used to the respondents’ challenges encounter when searching for the

information required. The interpret result, the following table interpretation was used.

• Mean Interpretation

• 4.21 – 5.00 Strongly Agree

• 3.41 – 4.20 Agree

• 2.61 – 3.40 Neither Agree/Disagree

• 1.81 – 2.60 Disagree

• 1.00 – 1.80 Strongly Disagree

•
• Ethical Consideration

• This study adhered to the ethical principles of research, such as informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, and voluntary participation of the

respondents. The researcher obtained permission from the Dean of the College Information Communication Technology and Engineering,

College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Fisheries to distribute the survey questionnaire to the target respondents. The participants were

informed of the purpose of the study, their rights, and the confidentiality of their responses. They were also free to refuse participation or

withdraw from the study without any consequences. The researchers ensured that the data collected were confidential and that the information

gathered, would only use for research purposes. Furthermore, the data gathered will be stored securely and not shared with anyone outside the

research team. The study also followed the guidelines of the Northern State College of Science and Technology (NONESCOST) for conducting

research involving human subjects.

• Reliability of the Research Instrument

• To ensure the effectiveness in the collection of data in this study, the questionnaire used, should be valid and
reliable. It is said that reliability for a procedure is essential before its validity can be considered and the actual
reliability sets the ceiling for the maximum validity the instrument possesses (Fox, 1998). After ensuring the
validity of the questionnaire, it was subjected to reliability test using Cronbach Alpha method. The validated
questionnaire will be administered to 30 students who will not be part of the actual respondents. The obtained
reliability index is ____, which shows that the questionnaire is reliable .
• Manjunath, N., & Babu, K. S. (2018). Information needs and
• information seeking behaviour of research scholars in
• Bangalore University: A survey. International Journal
• of Library and Information Studies, 8(1), 332-342.
•
• Martínez-Pérez, I., Hernández-Gómez, A. J., & Segura-Alonso,
• R. (2021). The nine-stage model of information seeking
• behavior (9MSIB): A conceptual framework to understand
• how people seek and use information. Journal of
• Documentation, 77(1), 142-172.
•
• Parton, P. A. (2018). Information needs and information
• seeking behavior: Theories,
•
•
• Shuhidan, S.M., Yahaya, W.A., Hashim, H., Shuhidan, S.M., &
• Abd Hakim, A.A. (2019). Malaysian research students
• encounter with information seeking process for academic
• purposes. Journal of e-Learning and Higher Education, 1-10.

• Silva, A., & Chandrawamsa, P. (2016). Information needs and

• information seeking behaviour of students at higher
• educational institutes: With special reference to CINEC
• Maritime Campus. Sociology and Anthropology, 4(6), 494-
• 499.

• Sveiby, K.-W. (1998). What is Information? Retrieved February

• 15,2016 from http://www.sveiby.com/articles/Information
• .htm

• Wilson, T. D. (2000). Human information behavior. Informing

• Science, 3(2), 49–56.
•