The effect of socio-demographic characteristics on the information-seeking behaviors of police officers

Author(s):  
Idris Guclu ◽  
Ali Can

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the information-seeking behaviors of police officers who work in police stations in the context of staying current. Leckie et al.’s (1996) model of the information-seeking behavior of professionals is tested. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative research design was employed for data collection. The sample includes 642 cases. It is both descriptive and exploratory. Findings – Police officers first rely upon their personal knowledge and experience, then their colleagues and then official documents. On the other hand, they rarely consulted informants, libraries, journals, books, and attendance at conferences as information sources. There were significant differences in the information sources used by police officers based on their gender in the context of staying current. Lastly, the results of this study indicated that service years in policing and the roles in police station were significantly correlated with the information sources used by police officers regarding staying current. Originality/value – This study, being the first, provides a huge theoretical base for future studies. It contributes to the discipline of information science by validating a theoretical model in a different context. In addition, it contributes to public safety by understanding the frontline police officers’ information needs and information-seeking behavior.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Muhammmad Nurfadillah ◽  
Ardiansah Ardiansah

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought changes to every aspect of life, one of which is education. Due to these circumstances, conventional learning has turned into online learning to avoid potential virus-spreading in university clusters, and UPI Library and Information Science 2019 students must follow the policy. The study aims to determine the information-seeking behavior of university students in meeting their information needs and differences in information-seeking behavior before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study method uses a descriptive quantitative research method. The sample of this research is students who experience two types of learning, conventional learning (in the classroom) and long-distance learning (online class). The results of this study indicate that there are differences in information-seeking behavior of UPI Library and Information Science 2019 students before and during the Covid-19 pandemic both in terms of motivation, place, sources, strategies, and obstacles in finding information. This is shown from the percentages of respondents' answers that show a decrease in physical activity such as visiting the library and a decrease in the use of printed media in finding information during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the use of electronic and online-based media to search for information such as e-journal catalogs is increasing, and the use of electronic information sources has also increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Muzammil Tahira ◽  
Kanwal Ameen

The paper focuses on enquiring the information needs and Information seeking behavior of Science and Technology (S&T) teachers of the University of the Punjab (PU). Their preferences regarding various formats of information sources (printed and electronic) and importance of formal and informal sources have been explored through quantitative survey. Self-completion questionnaire was used to reach whole population of institutions/colleges/departments of all Science and Technology faculties. Findings reveal: both libraries and e-resources are playing important role in meeting respondents' information needs; direct access to e-sources has slightly decreased the number of their visits to departmental and central libraries; and faculty spend comparatively more time on searching web sources than print sources.


Author(s):  
Hawa Alnaki

The study will examine the everyday life information seeking behavior of new Muslim immigrants in Montreal, as well as their information needs and the challenges they face. While there has been some work that focuses on the information needs and information seeking behavior of new immigrants in the United States, to date there has been little research within the Canadian context. Specifically, there is a failure to account for new Muslim immigrants' information needs in Montreal from the perspective of the library and information science field. Most information behavior research categorizes Muslim immigrants in Canada according to nationality or gender.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Romy Menghao Jia ◽  
Jia Tina Du ◽  
Yuxiang Chris Zhao

PurposeLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) individuals' health information seeking is an important topic across multiple disciplines and areas. The aim of this systematic review is to create a holistic view of sexual and gender minority individuals' health information seeking reported in multidisciplinary studies, with regard to the types of health information LGBTQ+ individuals sought and information sources they used, as well as the factors influencing their health information seeking behavior.Design/methodology/approachThe review is based on the literature search in 10 major academic databases. A set of inclusion and exclusion criteria was applied to identify studies that provide evidence on LGBTQ+ individuals' health information seeking behavior. The studies were first screened by title and abstract to determine whether they met the inclusion criteria. The full texts of each relevant study were obtained to confirm whether the exclusion criteria were met. The reference lists of the included studies were manually scanned. The relevant information was then extracted from selected articles and analyzed using thematic content analysis.FindingsA seed set of 3,122 articles published between 1997 and 2020 was evaluated, and 46 total articles were considered for further analysis. The review results show that two major categories of health information sought by LGBTQ+ individuals were sexual and nonsexual, which were further classified into 17 specific types. In terms of health information sources, researchers have reported that online resources, interpersonal sources and traditional media were frequently used. Moreover, 25 factors affecting LGBTQ+ individuals' health information seeking were identified from the literature.Originality/valueThrough evidence-based understanding, this review preliminarily bridged the knowledge gap in understanding the status quo of studies on LGBTQ+ individuals' health information seeking and proposed the potential research directions that information science researchers could contribute to this important area.


Author(s):  
Sarika Sawant

Over the period of four decades plenty of information seeking behavior models have been presented by many researchers. James Krikelas (1983) was the first to develop an information seeking model derived from published Library and Information Science (LIS) literature about information needs and uncertainty. The present chapter discusses the Krikelas model, the researcher's views of the model and the empirical studies that implemented it. The Krikelas model can be reassessed considering the advances taking place in today's online environment. The internal and external source preferences which are important part of the model have taken new form. The advanced online tools and techniques can help the researcher in capturing information, organizing and eventually collaborating with others to fulfill the information giving and gathering process. Further studies are recommended to redesign the Krikelas model considering new possibilities with the addition of feedback at the end.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 447-460
Author(s):  
Knut Alstad ◽  
Morten Hertzum

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how often geoscientists use different information sources and how this pattern of source use balances their perceptions of the quality and ease of use of the information sources. Design/methodology/approach The geoscientists at the Geological Survey of Norway were surveyed about their information-seeking behavior. The response rate was 70 percent. Findings The geoscientists primarily relied on web search and colleagues for information. These two information sources were perceived as easy to use, more so than bibliographic databases (GeoRef, Web of Science, and the library database). Bibliographic databases were used infrequently and perceived as yielding poorer quality results than consulting a colleague. The likelihood of using web search and colleagues to find information about a new topic was determined by the ease of using these sources. In contrast, the quality of the resulting information did not determine the frequency with which any of the information sources were used. The geoscientists who spent more time looking for information searched the web more often, had more reservations toward the quality of information obtained from colleagues, and read more journal articles and conference papers. Research limitations/implications Geoscientists’ use of an information source is self-reinforcing and unlikely to increase through improving its quality alone. It should be noted that the study is restricted to one geoscience organization. Originality/value The main reference about the information-seeking behavior of geoscientists is almost three decades old. This study provides an update.


Author(s):  
Oluyomi Oluleke FOLORUNSO

Information-seeking behavior is one of the most important areas of user studies and a concept affected by many factors. Previous researches in these areas indicate that the information-seeking practices of scholars are dependent on their field of research, and vary from one discipline to another. This paper examines the information-seeking behavior of scholars in the social sciences, based on the premise that information-seeking behavior follows universally applicable stages and patterns worldwide. The study was conducted at the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). Fifty eight active social sciences scholars were interviewed via a questionnaire about their information sources for research and consultancy purposes, their preference for electronic or printed formats, their use of electronic or Internet resources, and how they meet or satisfy their information needs, among others. Results show that journals and books were the most preferred information sources, and a large majority of scholars “regularly” used electronic information resources for their research and consultancy needs. The findings of the study also demonstrate diverse usage patterns for electronic information resources among users of different academic ranks and age range. Based on the research findings, the author provides suggestions on how current information services and products can be improved to better serve the users. The author also makes recommendations for improving library services and technologies to better meet the information needs of social sciences scholars in general.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daryl L Superio ◽  
Elvi S Nemiz ◽  
Mary Grace H Oliveros ◽  
Vince Ervin V Palcullo ◽  
Anna May A Yap-Zerrudo ◽  
...  

Compliance with a policy, law, standard or code requires understanding of its provisions. However, for someone to understand it, he must be aware of its existence and be provided access to it. A qualitative-quantitative research was conducted to determine the awareness of milkfish farmers about the Philippine Code of Practice for Aquaculture in the municipalities of Leganes and Zarraga, Iloilo Province, the Philippines and their information-seeking behaviors. Results revealed that the majority of the respondents were not aware of the existence of the Code, hence, there is a low level of compliance. When seeking everyday life information, the majority of the milkfish farmers depended on television, personal or person-to-person communication and radio, while when seeking for fish farming information, personal communication was the preferred source. None of the respondents was aware of the existence of their municipal libraries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 872-891
Author(s):  
Haifa Binsahl ◽  
Shanton Chang ◽  
Rachelle Bosua

The number of Saudi female international students (SFISs) pursuing higher degrees in Western countries has increased dramatically. Many are faced with unusual challenges, especially acting without a male’s permission, interacting with males, and using an open, free Internet. This article proposes that SFISs experience a “digital shift” whereby their cultural, educational, and digital backgrounds impact their information-seeking behavior in Australia. The study used a qualitative interpretivist methodology, interviewing a diverse group of SFISs studying in Australia, to better understand this impact on their everyday information needs and use of information sources. Findings indicate that SFISs’ imperfect online search skills, exacerbated by English language deficiency, increase their challenges. Recommendations for supporting SFISs are offered for institutions and service providers.


Author(s):  
Versha Bharadwaj ◽  
Javed Khan

Information behaviour is also the term of art used in library and information science to refer to a sub-discipline that engages in a wide range of types of research conducted in order to understand the human relationship to information. Information seeking behavior refers to those activities a person engages in when identifying his or her own need for information, searching for such information in any way and using or transferring of information.  The term information seeking often serves as an umbrella overarching a set of related concepts and issues. In the library world, discussions of database construction and management, community information needs, reference services, and many other topics resonate with the term.


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