- Email: [email protected]
Information seeking behaviour
ht. Libr. Rev. (1988) 20, 337-346
Information STEPHEN
A.
Seeking Behaviour
OSIOBE*
Information seeking behaviour is an area of active interest among librarians, information scientists, communication scientists, sociologists and psychologists. Information seeking behaviour results from the recognition of some need, perceived by the user, whom as a consequence makes demands upon formal systems such as libraries, information centres, on-line services or some other persons in order to satisfy the perceived need.’ Information systems exist to enhance the flow and utilization ofinformation and augment the information processing function of man in reaching rational decisions in his day-to-day life. One such system that was created early in time is the university library which was set up to serve the academic community of the parent institution. Today’s university library constitutes the life support system of learning and research in the institution to students, faculty, technical and administrative staff. Its various facilities, both human and material, enhance the flow and utilization ofinformation stored in varied formats within its walls. While the number of graduate students is on the increase in Nigeria, undergraduate students still dominate the total student population in the universities. According to the annual report of the National Universities Commission, 75.3% of the students registered in all Nigerian universities for the 1983/84 session were undergraduates.’ Thus, in Nigeria the university libraries serve a predominantly undergraduate student body. The numerical strength of undergraduate students in these universities demands that special attention be paid to their information seeking behaviour. Several sources of information are available to the undergraduate student on campus, viz. professors, librarians, fellow students and an array of sources in the library. University professors readily come to mind as the main source of information. They teach the courses and give course outlines accompanied in most cases with a list of references to supplement the main class text and lectures. The practice of subject specialization * ChiefLibrarian,
among University
librarians
in modern
of Port Harcourt,
‘T. D. Wilson (Mar. 1981). “On user studies ‘Nigeria. National Universities Commission. ‘I’hr Commission. 1986.
002&7837/88/030337+
10 $03.00/O
PMB
university 5323,
Port
libraries
Harcourt,
makes
Nigeria.
needs.” J. Docum., 37(l), (Jan. 1983-Dec. 1984).
and information Annual Reports
0
1988 Academic
3-15. Ilorin:
Press Limited
it
338
S.
A.
OSIOBE
possible not only for the student to have access to a trained librarian but also to one trained in the subject area of his interest. Subject librarians are a valuable aid to students and faculty in research through bibliographic searches directed towards finding background information. The amount of ground already covered in their areas of interest helps to place their work in the context of a related body of existing knowledge. Human resources apart, the student has access to numerous information retrieval tools in the library which he can use to locate material of interest to him. The most conspicuous and widely known of these is the library card catalogue which is an index to the library’s collection, usually located at the entrance to the library. Other information retrieval tools in the library are the abstracts, indexes, bibliographies, and the list of references at the end of articles and books. Although these references are not primary finding tools, they are usually intensively used once the reader is able to find a relevant article in his area of interest by means of references. They are then also used for cyclic searching, which can in many cases lead to the retrieval of major works in the area of investigation. Several studies point to the importance of references at the end of periodical articles and monographs as the sources of literature. StenStrom and McBride in their study of serial use by the social science faculty at the University of Illinois found that the faculty relied extensively on footnotes and bibliographies in monographs and serials as source of reference to the literature.’ Hakulinen in 1974 reported that the main sources of references to biomedical periodical literature were the abstracting and indexing journals, followed by periodical articles and books, while the main sources of reference to monograph literature were references in periodical articles and books.* Styvendaele, in the study of sources of references to periodical literature at the Antwerp State University Centre, discovered that the citations at the end of articles in periodicals and books were the main source of references to periodical literature (54.394) among faculty and doctoral students, followed by Current Contents and SD1 service operated by the library (Zllo,/,).3 In the absence of using access tools to locate materials of interest, the ’ Patricia Stenstrom and Ruth B. McBride (Sept. 1979). “Serial use by social science faculty: a survey.” Cdl. Rex. Libr., 40(5) 426-43 I. ‘E. Hakulinen (July 1974). “Th e use of bibliographical information media by the borrowers at the Karolinska Institutcts Bibliotck (the Library of the Karolinska Institutet).” International
Library
Review, 6(3),
345.-350.
“J. H. Van Styvrndaele (Oct. refcrenrrs to periodical literature.”
1977).
“U mversity
,J. Librarianship,
scientists
9(4),
as seekers
270-277.
of information:
sources
(11
INFORMATION
SEEKING
BEHAVIOUR
339
student may simply browse through the shelves in the hope of finding something of interest. Greene, in a study of how the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology discovered books they checked out of the library, found that browsing was the most important method used by them to learn about library books they borrowed. Browsing, however, ranked least when the usefulness ofbooks discovered by various methods was considered.’ Earlier, Voigt, in a review of studies directed towards the determination of sources employed by scientists in locating information, came to the conclusion that browsing was the most used method employed in locating printed sources.’ Sources of references to the literature and the way students conduct their search in the library are good indicators of their information seeking behaviour. What are the main sources among undergraduate students? When an undergraduate student is in need of a book for a particular subject, how does he set out to obtain relevant materials from the library? When he is given a list of references by his faculty, how does he set out to obtain them from the library? Answers to the above questions can be very useful in charting the map of information seeking behaviour of undergraduate students. A review of the literature thus indicates that some of the common sources of references to the literature are references at the end of articles and books; colleagues; other people whom the individual considers to be more informed than him/herself with regards to the literature; librarians; the library card catalogue; abstracts/indexes; and browsing. Knowledge of the information seeking behaviour of students can be a big asset to librarians in the design and implementation of library-use instructions. In view of the above considerations, this study was carried out to find answers to the following questions: (1) What are the main sources of references to the literature among undergraduate students? (2) Is the use of channels as sources of references to the literature among undergraduates independent of the level of study? (i.e. Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior or Senior). (3) Does the study discipline influence the choice of channels used as sources of references to the literature among undergraduates?
SETTING
AND
METHODOLOGY
FOR
THE
STUDY
Questions meant to generate answers to the above questions were incorporated into a questionnaire administered to a random sample of ’ Robert J. Green 2Melvin J. Voigt tiveness of browsing?
(July 1977). “The effectiveness of browsing.” Cdl. Res. Libr., 38(4), 313-316. (July 1977). “Scientists’ approaches to information,” cited in “The cfferby Robert J. Green. Coil. Res. Libr., 38(4), 313.
340
S. A.
OSIOBE
undergraduate students at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in an extensive study designed to probe the students’ information seeking behaviour. Using a table of random numbers, a total of 850 students were selected for the survey from the students’ list obtained from the office of the Dean of Students Affairs of the University. The questionnaire was made up of two sections. Section one was structured to elicit the following demographic information: sex, class and study discipline. Section two contained a list of seven channels of access to the literature known to be used by various individuals as sources of references to the literature, viz: references at the end of articles and books, browsing on the shelves, colleagues, lecturers/instructors, card catalogue, abstracts/indexes and reference/subject librarian. There was also an open ended question in which respondents were asked to indicate other sources used by them not included in the questionnaire. Respondents were asked to mark their most commonly used source of reference to the literature. Research assistants who were themselves students of the University were used in the distribution and collection of the questionnaires. A total of 850 undergraduate students were surveyed; 559 completed and returned their questionnaires, giving a response rate of 65.8%. Of the 559 returned questionnaires, 502 were in usable form for data analysis.
RESULTS
OF THE
STUDY
In order to find an answer to the first research question, responses to the first eight questions in section two of the questionnaire dealing with sources of references to the literature were analysed without reference to any of the demographic variables in section one. Sources of references to the literature among undergraduates in the sample had the following distribution: browsing-120 (23.9%)) faculty-88 (17.53%)) library card catalogue-88 (17.53%), librarians-66 (13.15%)) references in articles and books--62 ( 12.350/,), abstracts and indexes-40 (7.97%) and colleagues-38 (7.57%). The distribution is laid out in a bar chart in Fig. 1. The second research question can be stated in the form of a null hypothesis, viz. There are no differences among undergraduates at different levels of study in their sources of references to the literature. This hypothesis was tested at the 0.01 level of confidence. The analysis of data in respect of this hypothesis are laid out in the contingency Table I. A chi-square test on students’ level of study in relationship to their sources of references to the literature was significant at the 0.01 criterion (x2 = 110.037, df = 18, P < O-01).
INFORMATION
SEEKING
the
FIG. 1. Bar chart
ofsourcrs
ofrcfmxuxs
341
BEHAVIOUR
to the litcraturc
I
among
undergraduates.
As in the case of of question two, the third question may also be stated in the form of a null hypothesis, viz. The study discipline does not influence the choice of channels used as sources of references to the literature among undergraduate students. This hypothesis was also tested at the 0.01 criterion. Data used in testing the hypothesis are laid out in contingency Table II. The chi-square test was significant at the 0.01 level ofconfidence (x2 = 61.830, df = 30, P < 0.01).
DISCUSSION
Results of the study show that browsing is the prevalent source of reference to the literature among undergraduates, followed by faculty staff and the library card catalogue in second position and the subject/reference librarian in third place. Freshmen and Sophomores tend to rely more on browsing as their major source of reference to the literature as compared with Juniors and Seniors. Browsing as a method of discovering relevant material housed in a library requires no technical skill and it also has the advantage of immediacy-by which relevant material discovered may be used on the spot or checked out for home use. In terms of time-economy however, browsing does not match up to the library card catalogue in knowing what is available in the collection for a given subject or topic. Browsing has even greater defects when it comes to gaining access to the periodical
Level
(expected
of study
* f, value
Total
IV
III
II
I
I
frequency).
$5) 62
$3)
(299,
(IT&*
Refs. in articles and books
(228-2) 120
(25g
(3F5j
($5)
Browsing
(770) 38
(&
(1?2j
(lb&
Colleagues
Sources
($33: 88
(I&
(21882j
($5)
Faculty
of references
$3) 88
$9)
$2
(&
Card
j
cat.
to the literature
$2) 66
(lig
(2Y*j
(lf4j
Librarians
(:74) 40
(L6)
($8)
(1 *!*j
Abs./ Indexes
Row
93 502
108
161
140
total
4 x 7 Contingency table for sources of references to the literature in relationship to the level of study among undergraduates
TABLE
0 Ei
z
0
(I, r
II
sciences
discipline
* f, value
Total
Education
(expected
sciences
Humanities
Social
Engineering
Health
Sciences
Study
frequency).
Refs. in articles and books
($6) 120
(1?7)
(I&
(1 ,e,)
$5)
($7)
Browsing
Colleagues
Sources
Faculty
of references
Card
Cat.
to the literature
($3) 66
$7)
($9)
(6.4)
4
VW
$0) 13
Librarians
Abs./ Indexes
Row
86 502
74
83
49
73
137
total
6 x 7 Contingenq table for sources of references to the literature in relationship to the study discipline among undergraduates
TABLE
344
S.
A.
OSIOBE
literature due to the inter-relatedness of knowledge and the wide scattering of research publications. Ease of access, which is a major factor in the use of information resources, is perhaps the main factor responsible for the dominance of browsing over the other channels as a source of reference to the literature. As the students advance in their undergraduate programmes, the needs for comprehensiveness and in-depth reviews tend to force them to shift to other sources in order to gain access to a wider body of literature. Issuing references to students to supplement lectures and class text is standard practice in all Nigerian universities. Usually, most of the references given by the faculties are in the library’s collection, since most faculty members take pains to check through their references in the library before giving them to their students. This practice may be largely responsible for the second position which faculty staff share with the library card catalogue as a source of reference among undergraduates. Besides, it is understandable that students should seek advice on relevant text materials from their course lecturers. The card catalogue is an index of the library’s collection. Its use is emphasized both by the faculty staff and librarians in their interactions with students in any demanding information task. It is also the principle source against which students check their list of references. Its second position as a source of reference to the literature among undergraduates in this study is therefore not surprising. Librarians ranked fourth as a source of reference in this study. The practice of subject librarianship at the University of Port Harcourt, whereby a librarian with a degree in a specific discipline is placed in charge of reference/information service and liaison with students and faculties of that discipline, may be responsible for the relatively high position of the use of librarians as resource persons in the study. It is interesting to note that Juniors and Seniors tend to use librarians more than Freshmen and Sophomores. Abstracts and indexes which are the most valuable sources are poorly used by undergraduates. These sources ranked sixth in the study sample. Two main reasons may be responsible for this. First, a general lack of knowledge by the majority of students on how to make use of these tools. In a study of the use of periodical literature among final year students in a Nigerian university by the author, the subjects in the study confessed their ignorance at the use of these sources.’ The second reason may be attributed to a common practice in most ‘S. A. Osiobe (Summer 1981). “‘fhc USC of serials by students sciences: the University of llorin preliminary study.” Smials Librarian.
of biological 5(4j, 33S36.
and chemical
INFORMATION
SEEKING
BEHAVIOUR
345
university libraries in Nigeria, the University ofPort Harcourt inclusive. That is the library rule which bars undergraduate students from the use of the research section of the library where the periodicals, abstracts, indexes, bibliographies, current awareness sources and a variety of reference sources are housed. Undergraduates may only have access to this section of the library on presentation of a written note signed by his/her faculty. In some libraries, on presentation of such a written note specifying the students needs, a member of the circulation staff retrieves the material for the students use, while in others the student is allowed to seek whatever he/she needs for him/herself. In the most liberal of the university libraries, only seniors (final year undergraduates) are allowed direct access to the research section of the library. This is the practice at the University of Port Harcourt Library. However, a close look at the distribution of use of abstracts and indexes indicate that juniors and seniors use these sources more than freshmen and sophomores. At the junior and senior stages of undergraduate work there are more term papers and long essays (or seminar papers)’ than at the first two years. The execution of these projects demand a more in-depth review of the literature than is needed at the lower levels. Consequently, juniors and seniors tend to use abstracts and indexes more in order to have a fairly comprehensive coverage of their research/essay topics. Since a chi-square test on the student’s level of study in relationship to their sources of references to the literature was significant at the 0.01 level ofconfidence (x’ = 110.037, df = 8, P < O.Ol), the null hypothesis which says that there is no difference among undergraduates at different levels of study in their sources of references to the literature must be rejected. Thus, we can conclude that students’ level of study and their sources of references to the literature are related. In order to find the strength of the relationship, the contingency coefficient, C, was computed and found to be equal to 0.42. This C value indicates that the relationship between the level of study and sources of references to the literature may well be a moderate to fairly strong one in the study sample. Results of the study also indicate that there is a relationship between undergraduates’ study discipline and sources of references to the literature. The chi-square test was significant at the 0.01 level of confidence (x2 = 61.83, df = 30, P < 0.01). The calculated C value (0.33) to test the strength of the relationship indicates that the relationship between study discipline and sources of references to the literature is fairly weak. In other words, there are likely to be numerous exceptions to the conclusion. The implications of these findings are many. In view of the heavy
346
S.
A.
OSIOBE
dependence on the faculties by students as sources of references to the literature, it is important for faculty members to work in close collaboration with librarians in drawing up the list of references for their courses. The subject librarians in specific disciplines can help faculty members to update references and place key materials on reserve for the use of all the students of whatever course. Such a mutual arrangement now exists between the medical librarian and faculty members in the college of health sciences in the university of this study. The use of the card catalogue as a major access tool to the library’s collection demands that the files be well maintained and kept in alphabetical order. Added entries and subject headings should be liberal and concise in order to provide several access points to the literature. Cross references should be used with consistency in order to guide users from non-used terms to used terms, while see also references should be used to lead users to related subjects. The poor use of abstracts/indexes by undergraduates in the study sample demands that greater efforts should be made to include the use of library resources as part of the General Studies (GS) course which is compulsory for all undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. Some Nigerian universities such as Ife, Nsukka and Ilorin have already adopted this measure. The inclusion of the use of library resources as part of the GS course gives students the opportunity to learn about the use of various bibliographic tools in their specific disciplines and how to conduct a literature search in the library. Since the course is credit earning, students take it seriously, unlike the library orientation programme which is taken with levity. The course also gives librarians first-hand information of some of the problems encountered by undergraduates in their search for information, and helps them to plan for improved services.
Information STEPHEN
A.
Seeking Behaviour
OSIOBE*
Information seeking behaviour is an area of active interest among librarians, information scientists, communication scientists, sociologists and psychologists. Information seeking behaviour results from the recognition of some need, perceived by the user, whom as a consequence makes demands upon formal systems such as libraries, information centres, on-line services or some other persons in order to satisfy the perceived need.’ Information systems exist to enhance the flow and utilization ofinformation and augment the information processing function of man in reaching rational decisions in his day-to-day life. One such system that was created early in time is the university library which was set up to serve the academic community of the parent institution. Today’s university library constitutes the life support system of learning and research in the institution to students, faculty, technical and administrative staff. Its various facilities, both human and material, enhance the flow and utilization ofinformation stored in varied formats within its walls. While the number of graduate students is on the increase in Nigeria, undergraduate students still dominate the total student population in the universities. According to the annual report of the National Universities Commission, 75.3% of the students registered in all Nigerian universities for the 1983/84 session were undergraduates.’ Thus, in Nigeria the university libraries serve a predominantly undergraduate student body. The numerical strength of undergraduate students in these universities demands that special attention be paid to their information seeking behaviour. Several sources of information are available to the undergraduate student on campus, viz. professors, librarians, fellow students and an array of sources in the library. University professors readily come to mind as the main source of information. They teach the courses and give course outlines accompanied in most cases with a list of references to supplement the main class text and lectures. The practice of subject specialization * ChiefLibrarian,
among University
librarians
in modern
of Port Harcourt,
‘T. D. Wilson (Mar. 1981). “On user studies ‘Nigeria. National Universities Commission. ‘I’hr Commission. 1986.
002&7837/88/030337+
10 $03.00/O
PMB
university 5323,
Port
libraries
Harcourt,
makes
Nigeria.
needs.” J. Docum., 37(l), (Jan. 1983-Dec. 1984).
and information Annual Reports
0
1988 Academic
3-15. Ilorin:
Press Limited
it
338
S.
A.
OSIOBE
possible not only for the student to have access to a trained librarian but also to one trained in the subject area of his interest. Subject librarians are a valuable aid to students and faculty in research through bibliographic searches directed towards finding background information. The amount of ground already covered in their areas of interest helps to place their work in the context of a related body of existing knowledge. Human resources apart, the student has access to numerous information retrieval tools in the library which he can use to locate material of interest to him. The most conspicuous and widely known of these is the library card catalogue which is an index to the library’s collection, usually located at the entrance to the library. Other information retrieval tools in the library are the abstracts, indexes, bibliographies, and the list of references at the end of articles and books. Although these references are not primary finding tools, they are usually intensively used once the reader is able to find a relevant article in his area of interest by means of references. They are then also used for cyclic searching, which can in many cases lead to the retrieval of major works in the area of investigation. Several studies point to the importance of references at the end of periodical articles and monographs as the sources of literature. StenStrom and McBride in their study of serial use by the social science faculty at the University of Illinois found that the faculty relied extensively on footnotes and bibliographies in monographs and serials as source of reference to the literature.’ Hakulinen in 1974 reported that the main sources of references to biomedical periodical literature were the abstracting and indexing journals, followed by periodical articles and books, while the main sources of reference to monograph literature were references in periodical articles and books.* Styvendaele, in the study of sources of references to periodical literature at the Antwerp State University Centre, discovered that the citations at the end of articles in periodicals and books were the main source of references to periodical literature (54.394) among faculty and doctoral students, followed by Current Contents and SD1 service operated by the library (Zllo,/,).3 In the absence of using access tools to locate materials of interest, the ’ Patricia Stenstrom and Ruth B. McBride (Sept. 1979). “Serial use by social science faculty: a survey.” Cdl. Rex. Libr., 40(5) 426-43 I. ‘E. Hakulinen (July 1974). “Th e use of bibliographical information media by the borrowers at the Karolinska Institutcts Bibliotck (the Library of the Karolinska Institutet).” International
Library
Review, 6(3),
345.-350.
“J. H. Van Styvrndaele (Oct. refcrenrrs to periodical literature.”
1977).
“U mversity
,J. Librarianship,
scientists
9(4),
as seekers
270-277.
of information:
sources
(11
INFORMATION
SEEKING
BEHAVIOUR
339
student may simply browse through the shelves in the hope of finding something of interest. Greene, in a study of how the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology discovered books they checked out of the library, found that browsing was the most important method used by them to learn about library books they borrowed. Browsing, however, ranked least when the usefulness ofbooks discovered by various methods was considered.’ Earlier, Voigt, in a review of studies directed towards the determination of sources employed by scientists in locating information, came to the conclusion that browsing was the most used method employed in locating printed sources.’ Sources of references to the literature and the way students conduct their search in the library are good indicators of their information seeking behaviour. What are the main sources among undergraduate students? When an undergraduate student is in need of a book for a particular subject, how does he set out to obtain relevant materials from the library? When he is given a list of references by his faculty, how does he set out to obtain them from the library? Answers to the above questions can be very useful in charting the map of information seeking behaviour of undergraduate students. A review of the literature thus indicates that some of the common sources of references to the literature are references at the end of articles and books; colleagues; other people whom the individual considers to be more informed than him/herself with regards to the literature; librarians; the library card catalogue; abstracts/indexes; and browsing. Knowledge of the information seeking behaviour of students can be a big asset to librarians in the design and implementation of library-use instructions. In view of the above considerations, this study was carried out to find answers to the following questions: (1) What are the main sources of references to the literature among undergraduate students? (2) Is the use of channels as sources of references to the literature among undergraduates independent of the level of study? (i.e. Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior or Senior). (3) Does the study discipline influence the choice of channels used as sources of references to the literature among undergraduates?
SETTING
AND
METHODOLOGY
FOR
THE
STUDY
Questions meant to generate answers to the above questions were incorporated into a questionnaire administered to a random sample of ’ Robert J. Green 2Melvin J. Voigt tiveness of browsing?
(July 1977). “The effectiveness of browsing.” Cdl. Res. Libr., 38(4), 313-316. (July 1977). “Scientists’ approaches to information,” cited in “The cfferby Robert J. Green. Coil. Res. Libr., 38(4), 313.
340
S. A.
OSIOBE
undergraduate students at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in an extensive study designed to probe the students’ information seeking behaviour. Using a table of random numbers, a total of 850 students were selected for the survey from the students’ list obtained from the office of the Dean of Students Affairs of the University. The questionnaire was made up of two sections. Section one was structured to elicit the following demographic information: sex, class and study discipline. Section two contained a list of seven channels of access to the literature known to be used by various individuals as sources of references to the literature, viz: references at the end of articles and books, browsing on the shelves, colleagues, lecturers/instructors, card catalogue, abstracts/indexes and reference/subject librarian. There was also an open ended question in which respondents were asked to indicate other sources used by them not included in the questionnaire. Respondents were asked to mark their most commonly used source of reference to the literature. Research assistants who were themselves students of the University were used in the distribution and collection of the questionnaires. A total of 850 undergraduate students were surveyed; 559 completed and returned their questionnaires, giving a response rate of 65.8%. Of the 559 returned questionnaires, 502 were in usable form for data analysis.
RESULTS
OF THE
STUDY
In order to find an answer to the first research question, responses to the first eight questions in section two of the questionnaire dealing with sources of references to the literature were analysed without reference to any of the demographic variables in section one. Sources of references to the literature among undergraduates in the sample had the following distribution: browsing-120 (23.9%)) faculty-88 (17.53%)) library card catalogue-88 (17.53%), librarians-66 (13.15%)) references in articles and books--62 ( 12.350/,), abstracts and indexes-40 (7.97%) and colleagues-38 (7.57%). The distribution is laid out in a bar chart in Fig. 1. The second research question can be stated in the form of a null hypothesis, viz. There are no differences among undergraduates at different levels of study in their sources of references to the literature. This hypothesis was tested at the 0.01 level of confidence. The analysis of data in respect of this hypothesis are laid out in the contingency Table I. A chi-square test on students’ level of study in relationship to their sources of references to the literature was significant at the 0.01 criterion (x2 = 110.037, df = 18, P < O-01).
INFORMATION
SEEKING
the
FIG. 1. Bar chart
ofsourcrs
ofrcfmxuxs
341
BEHAVIOUR
to the litcraturc
I
among
undergraduates.
As in the case of of question two, the third question may also be stated in the form of a null hypothesis, viz. The study discipline does not influence the choice of channels used as sources of references to the literature among undergraduate students. This hypothesis was also tested at the 0.01 criterion. Data used in testing the hypothesis are laid out in contingency Table II. The chi-square test was significant at the 0.01 level ofconfidence (x2 = 61.830, df = 30, P < 0.01).
DISCUSSION
Results of the study show that browsing is the prevalent source of reference to the literature among undergraduates, followed by faculty staff and the library card catalogue in second position and the subject/reference librarian in third place. Freshmen and Sophomores tend to rely more on browsing as their major source of reference to the literature as compared with Juniors and Seniors. Browsing as a method of discovering relevant material housed in a library requires no technical skill and it also has the advantage of immediacy-by which relevant material discovered may be used on the spot or checked out for home use. In terms of time-economy however, browsing does not match up to the library card catalogue in knowing what is available in the collection for a given subject or topic. Browsing has even greater defects when it comes to gaining access to the periodical
Level
(expected
of study
* f, value
Total
IV
III
II
I
I
frequency).
$5) 62
$3)
(299,
(IT&*
Refs. in articles and books
(228-2) 120
(25g
(3F5j
($5)
Browsing
(770) 38
(&
(1?2j
(lb&
Colleagues
Sources
($33: 88
(I&
(21882j
($5)
Faculty
of references
$3) 88
$9)
$2
(&
Card
j
cat.
to the literature
$2) 66
(lig
(2Y*j
(lf4j
Librarians
(:74) 40
(L6)
($8)
(1 *!*j
Abs./ Indexes
Row
93 502
108
161
140
total
4 x 7 Contingency table for sources of references to the literature in relationship to the level of study among undergraduates
TABLE
0 Ei
z
0
(I, r
II
sciences
discipline
* f, value
Total
Education
(expected
sciences
Humanities
Social
Engineering
Health
Sciences
Study
frequency).
Refs. in articles and books
($6) 120
(1?7)
(I&
(1 ,e,)
$5)
($7)
Browsing
Colleagues
Sources
Faculty
of references
Card
Cat.
to the literature
($3) 66
$7)
($9)
(6.4)
4
VW
$0) 13
Librarians
Abs./ Indexes
Row
86 502
74
83
49
73
137
total
6 x 7 Contingenq table for sources of references to the literature in relationship to the study discipline among undergraduates
TABLE
344
S.
A.
OSIOBE
literature due to the inter-relatedness of knowledge and the wide scattering of research publications. Ease of access, which is a major factor in the use of information resources, is perhaps the main factor responsible for the dominance of browsing over the other channels as a source of reference to the literature. As the students advance in their undergraduate programmes, the needs for comprehensiveness and in-depth reviews tend to force them to shift to other sources in order to gain access to a wider body of literature. Issuing references to students to supplement lectures and class text is standard practice in all Nigerian universities. Usually, most of the references given by the faculties are in the library’s collection, since most faculty members take pains to check through their references in the library before giving them to their students. This practice may be largely responsible for the second position which faculty staff share with the library card catalogue as a source of reference among undergraduates. Besides, it is understandable that students should seek advice on relevant text materials from their course lecturers. The card catalogue is an index of the library’s collection. Its use is emphasized both by the faculty staff and librarians in their interactions with students in any demanding information task. It is also the principle source against which students check their list of references. Its second position as a source of reference to the literature among undergraduates in this study is therefore not surprising. Librarians ranked fourth as a source of reference in this study. The practice of subject librarianship at the University of Port Harcourt, whereby a librarian with a degree in a specific discipline is placed in charge of reference/information service and liaison with students and faculties of that discipline, may be responsible for the relatively high position of the use of librarians as resource persons in the study. It is interesting to note that Juniors and Seniors tend to use librarians more than Freshmen and Sophomores. Abstracts and indexes which are the most valuable sources are poorly used by undergraduates. These sources ranked sixth in the study sample. Two main reasons may be responsible for this. First, a general lack of knowledge by the majority of students on how to make use of these tools. In a study of the use of periodical literature among final year students in a Nigerian university by the author, the subjects in the study confessed their ignorance at the use of these sources.’ The second reason may be attributed to a common practice in most ‘S. A. Osiobe (Summer 1981). “‘fhc USC of serials by students sciences: the University of llorin preliminary study.” Smials Librarian.
of biological 5(4j, 33S36.
and chemical
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university libraries in Nigeria, the University ofPort Harcourt inclusive. That is the library rule which bars undergraduate students from the use of the research section of the library where the periodicals, abstracts, indexes, bibliographies, current awareness sources and a variety of reference sources are housed. Undergraduates may only have access to this section of the library on presentation of a written note signed by his/her faculty. In some libraries, on presentation of such a written note specifying the students needs, a member of the circulation staff retrieves the material for the students use, while in others the student is allowed to seek whatever he/she needs for him/herself. In the most liberal of the university libraries, only seniors (final year undergraduates) are allowed direct access to the research section of the library. This is the practice at the University of Port Harcourt Library. However, a close look at the distribution of use of abstracts and indexes indicate that juniors and seniors use these sources more than freshmen and sophomores. At the junior and senior stages of undergraduate work there are more term papers and long essays (or seminar papers)’ than at the first two years. The execution of these projects demand a more in-depth review of the literature than is needed at the lower levels. Consequently, juniors and seniors tend to use abstracts and indexes more in order to have a fairly comprehensive coverage of their research/essay topics. Since a chi-square test on the student’s level of study in relationship to their sources of references to the literature was significant at the 0.01 level ofconfidence (x’ = 110.037, df = 8, P < O.Ol), the null hypothesis which says that there is no difference among undergraduates at different levels of study in their sources of references to the literature must be rejected. Thus, we can conclude that students’ level of study and their sources of references to the literature are related. In order to find the strength of the relationship, the contingency coefficient, C, was computed and found to be equal to 0.42. This C value indicates that the relationship between the level of study and sources of references to the literature may well be a moderate to fairly strong one in the study sample. Results of the study also indicate that there is a relationship between undergraduates’ study discipline and sources of references to the literature. The chi-square test was significant at the 0.01 level of confidence (x2 = 61.83, df = 30, P < 0.01). The calculated C value (0.33) to test the strength of the relationship indicates that the relationship between study discipline and sources of references to the literature is fairly weak. In other words, there are likely to be numerous exceptions to the conclusion. The implications of these findings are many. In view of the heavy
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dependence on the faculties by students as sources of references to the literature, it is important for faculty members to work in close collaboration with librarians in drawing up the list of references for their courses. The subject librarians in specific disciplines can help faculty members to update references and place key materials on reserve for the use of all the students of whatever course. Such a mutual arrangement now exists between the medical librarian and faculty members in the college of health sciences in the university of this study. The use of the card catalogue as a major access tool to the library’s collection demands that the files be well maintained and kept in alphabetical order. Added entries and subject headings should be liberal and concise in order to provide several access points to the literature. Cross references should be used with consistency in order to guide users from non-used terms to used terms, while see also references should be used to lead users to related subjects. The poor use of abstracts/indexes by undergraduates in the study sample demands that greater efforts should be made to include the use of library resources as part of the General Studies (GS) course which is compulsory for all undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. Some Nigerian universities such as Ife, Nsukka and Ilorin have already adopted this measure. The inclusion of the use of library resources as part of the GS course gives students the opportunity to learn about the use of various bibliographic tools in their specific disciplines and how to conduct a literature search in the library. Since the course is credit earning, students take it seriously, unlike the library orientation programme which is taken with levity. The course also gives librarians first-hand information of some of the problems encountered by undergraduates in their search for information, and helps them to plan for improved services.