Online information seeking behaviour of postgraduate engineering students at Kyambogo University in Uganda

Abstract

This study investigated the online information seeking behaviour of postgraduate engineering students at Kyambogo University in Uganda to determine the extent to which they use electronic (e-) library resources. A convergent mixed methods research approach was used. Quantitative data were collected from 58 out of 80 postgraduate engineering students using an online self-administered questionnaire while qualitative data were collected from interviews with 11 library staff and a focus group discussion with five members of library management. The findings revealed that the most used (M = 4.71) online information sources were Google Scholar, followed by corporate websites (M = 4.0), internet search engines (M = 3.98) and e-library resources (M = 3.62). The online information seeking behaviour of postgraduate engineering students was mainly influenced by their academic needs as students and their profession as engineers. This study, therefore, has implications for collection development in academic libraries to provide access to industry-relevant collections alongside the e-library resources to bridge the information gap between professional engineering practice and academic research. The study recommends that the library promote e-library resources and provide information literacy training to postgraduate engineering students to enhance the use of e-library resources.