Magister Artium - MA / The purpose of the study was to investigate the everyday life information seeking behaviour of visually impaired students at Stellenbosch University. The study framed by the Every Day Life information behaviour model of Pamela McKenzie focused on the information behaviour of visually impaired students, how the visually impaired students obtain their information and the role of the Stellenbosch University library. The study was motivated by the vital need to seek out, listen to and act upon the voices of students with disabilities in an attempt to make higher education more inclusive to students with some form of disability or challenge. Twenty-one visually impaired students from various faculties of Stellenbosch University completed a questionnaire consisting of 23 questions administered by Stellenbosch University’s Braille Office. Students with visual impairments at Stellenbosch University will consult friends, family members and lecturers for information. They needed both personal and academic information. Students found it both easy and difficult to obtain needed academic information. The Internet was the major information resource used by all students. Students relied mainly on online full text journal articles and e-books obtained via the Internet, SU Library’s databases, SunScholar and e-journals for academic information. The main reasons for not using the SU library can be attributed to the inability to use printed resources, lack of facilities for visually impaired students, difficulty in navigating the physical library and lack of training in exploiting the library and its services. All students with visual impairment made use of assistive technology and relied heavily on the support and services of the Braille Office for additional academic information. The everyday behaviour of students with visual impairments at Stellenbosch University conform to McKenzie’s Everyday Life Information Behaviour model as these students sought actively to make contact with sources, identified likely sources, made use of serendipitous encounters, were were identified as information seekers and made use of people as gatekeepers to be referred to a source.

This thesis deals with the information behaviour of employees of large companies. Its first objective is to provide the necessary theoretical basis for solving this problem, explaining concepts such as information, communication, information behaviour and information needs. The second objective is to subsequently capture the typical information behaviour of individuals in the organisation and of their surroundings using questionnaire survey. The result of this research is confirming or disproving the expressed hypotheses and recommendation for corrective actions if any typical problems in the field of information behaviour were identified. The research is aimed at all employees of large companies operating in information-intensive industries.

This thesis reports on a study conducted to investigate the business information needs, seeking patterns and information services for small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) in Namibia. The survey methodology was used and questionnaires were distributed to 308 SMMEs and 60 business service providers in the Windhoek and Oshana districts of Namibia. An in-depth qualitative assessment of the business information services was also conducted in 15 business support organisations in the two districts. The data collected through questionnaires was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) while qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. The study revealed that SMMEs have a range of business information needs and top among them are information on: finance, marketing, training and business information. The study also revealed that the information seeking patterns of SMMEs are largely informal with limited use of formal business information services provided by a range of business support services. There are several business support organisations in Namibia providing a range of services, including the provision of business information services. However, the study established that there is need for a coordinated approach towards the provision of business information services in the SMME sector in Namibia. The study showed that the utilisation of ICTs among SMMEs is very limited to basic computer operations like word processing, book-keeping packages, and spreadsheets. The use of Internet as a business tool and source of business information among SMMEs is also very limited. However, the study shows that the utilisation of ICTs among business support organisations is advanced and that this could be used as a platform to improve information delivery services to the SMMEs. The study proposes a strategic model that could be used in the deployment of business information services in the SMME sector. This strategy is based on a definition of business information services, components of business information services and the steps that must be followed in the development of the services. The proposed strategy also outlines the steps that should be taken in the impact assessment of business information services. The study concludes by making several recommendations concerning the improvement of business information delivery services to the SMME sector. Business support organisations and, in particular government and Chambers of Commerce and Industry need to consider various approaches in the design of sustainable business information services. / Thesis (DPhil (Information Science))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Information Science / unrestricted

<p>Ransomware, a form of malicious software, takes users’ files hostage via encryption and demands payment for their return. Since its inception, ransomware has branched into many different variants, some of which threaten users with scare tactics in order to evoke payment. For this study, four variants of ransomware were examined by presenting vignettes via an anonymous online survey. No actual malware was installed on any devices throughout this study. Their emotional responses were captured as well as their level of familiarity with information security. Responses to the survey after the simulated ransomware vignette were recorded to gauge how users would react to a ransomware attack. Data was analyzed to discover which types of ransomware evoked payment as well as if information security knowledge also had an effect on likelihood to pay. This data is intended to be used to develop better prevention methods and messaging, with an emphasis on promoting training on malware avoidance. The study found most individuals did not choose to pay, and this could be attributed to a distrust of the ransomware threat. Self-reported information security behavior appeared to decrease payment evocation, however, peer information security experience and prior exposure to malware appeared to increase payment evocation.</p>

Detecting human cognitive load is an increasingly important issue in the interaction between humans and machines, computers, and robots. In the past decade, several studies have sought to distinguish the cognitive load, or workload, state of humans based on multiple observations, such as behavioral, physiological, or multi-modal data. In the Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) cases, estimating human workload is essential because manipulators' performance could be adversely affected when they have many tasks that may be demanding. If the workload level can be detected, it will be beneficial to reallocate tasks on manipulators to improve the productivity of HMI tasks. However, it is still on question marks what kinds of cues can be utilized to know the degree of workload. In this research, eye blinking and mouse tracking are chosen as behavioral cues, exploring the possibility of a non-intrusive and automated workload estimator. During tests, behavior cues are statistically analyzed to find the difference among levels, using a dataset focused on three levels of the dual n-back memory game. The statistically analyzed signal is trained in a deep neural network model to classify the workload level. In this study, eye blinking related data and mouse tracking data have been statistically analyzed. The one-way repeated measure analysis of variance test result showed eye blinking duration on the dual 1-back and 3-back are significantly different. The mouse tracking data could not pass the statistical test. A three-dimension convolutional deep neural network is used to train visual data of human behavior. Classifying the dual 1-back and 3-back data accuracy is 51% with 0.66 F1-score on 1-back and 0.14 on 3-back data. In conclusion, blinking and mouse tracking are unlikely helpful cues when estimating different levels of workload. <br>

This study aims to analyse the information seeking behaviour of postgraduate students from Eduardo Mondlane University, Medicine Faculty, in order to extend the knowledge about the students’ interaction with study-related information as well as their perception in relation to the electronic resources available through UEM library, and the challenges they encounter seeking and retrieving information. To carry out the research, a qualitative and quantitative approach was used based on combination with the semi-structured interview and online survey as data collection instruments. The results showed that students start their searches with quite clearly defined information needs and varied seeking purposes, with emphasis on solving tasks of their master's and PhD classes, as well as to write and publish scientific articles. Students are aware of the existence of electronic resources available through the university, with emphases to the medical database HINARI. However, they prefer to use other sources freely available on the internet such as Google scholar andPubMed and they do not have the necessary skills to adopt precise strategies for information seeking. Issues such as unstable Internet connection, language barriers, difficulties in computing and use ofd atabases, and limitations on access to documents that require payments are some of the main challenges faced by the students during informationseeking.

The purpose of this study is to provide knowledge about Cambodian students’ information access and how their information behaviour is affected by floods. The research material consisted of 15 semi- structured interviews of university students in Cambodia. The results concluded that students have an immense difficulty accessing information for their studies. The results also reveal that students change their information behaviour during heavy rain and floods. The students learn to adapt to their environment and develop creative strategies to cope with accessing information during rainfall and floods. The students learn to share information with each other to a greater extent. Primarily they disseminate information through social media and messaging applications. The results were analysed using theories on information behaviour together with proposed categories of information behaviour during a crisis.

Masters of Art / The study investigated the bookmobile library service of the City of Cape Town libraries as an information ground and the information seeking behaviour of Manenberg adult library users. The study explored the use of bookmobile services by identified information needs and information seeking behaviour of community members to identify whether the bookmobiles were able to meet them. The study underpinned the Information Grounds Theory by Pettigrew to understand how individuals visiting the mobile library seek, acquire and exchange information while waiting for the bus as well as when they are in the mobile library.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Library and Information Science) in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2014 / Information seeking skills are important for students who are preparing to embark on information intensive professions such as the legal profession. Despite law libraries being available in all the Nigerian universities offering law as an undergraduate programme, law students generally do not seem interested in making optimal use of the available facilities and sources to find relevant information for their studies and to prepare them for their chosen career. Though many information behaviour studies relating to students do exist it is important to establish how and why students, especially those who have to rely on information to perform their duties as legal practitioners, seek for information and how they use the available information facilities and services to satisfy their information needs. The specific objectives of this study were to: investigate the information behaviour of law students in Nigerian university law libraries, determine the purposes for which law students retrieve information in Nigerian university law libraries, investigate the library information resources available to law students in Nigerian university law libraries, examine how law students utilise information resources in university law libraries, specifically ICT resources, determine the challenges faced by law students in the use of law library electronic resources and other law sources in the process of information retrieval in Nigerian university law libraries, provide recommendations for improving law library systems in Nigerian universities and to develop a theoretical model that suits the information seeking behaviour of law students in Nigerian university law libraries. The research paradigm followed a positivism and interpretive perspective using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study adopted a survey research design. The study targeted all the law students in Nigerian universities. Out of the 30 universities offering law as a course of study in Nigeria, a total of 12 universities were chosen for the study namely: Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti; Imo State University, Owerri; Kogi State University, Anyigba; Nasarawa State University, Keffi; Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; University of Benin, Benin; University of Calabar, Calabar; University of Ibadan, Ibadan; University of Ilorin, Ilorin: and University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. From the 12 chosen universities, 1,534 law students were randomly selected; this represents the sample for the study. Data was collected using a questionnaire, an interview and observation methods. The findings revealed that the surveyed law students generally exhibited a positive attitude towards patronage of law libraries, and that printed information sources are the main information sources utilised by respondents in law libraries. Digital libraries found in the law libraries were found not to be optimally used. Reasons given were the unavailability and inaccessibility of computers and the lack of Internet connectivity. The majority of the respondents indicated that they possessed the ICT skills required to search for information using electronic information resources in the law libraries. The Internet facilities provided in the law library where only used by 33% of the respondents when it was necessary to find academic related information. An ability test showed that only 47% of the respondents tested had the Internet skills to effectively retrieve applicable information sources/databases on the Internet. It was revealed that access to ICT facilities in the law libraries was poor, and the existing electronic libraries and other sources like the Internet and law databases were underutilised by the surveyed law students for a variety of reasons, such as a lack of access to the electronic law libraries, lack of ICT resources, or the fact that the existing ICT sources were not intended for law students’ use. Observations showed that only three law libraries provided access to law databases out of the twelve law libraries. Other challenges identified concerning the use of the law libraries included: erratic power supply; Internet connectivity problems; slow downloading speed; non-subscription to law databases; lack of qualified staff to manage and maintain the electronic law libraries; inadequate amount of computers for student utilisation; unhelpful library staff; and inadequate funding to provide quality ICT resources in the universities’ law libraries. The study recommended that law students should be allowed access to all law library resources and be provided with current and relevant library sources, electronic sources and ICT equipment that will encourage them to frequent the law libraries and use its information resources. Additionally, the libraries need adequate support and enough funds to facilitate the purchase of current legal material; upgrade ICT equipment; subscribe to legal databases; upgrade Internet connectivity; and improve their power supply. The study also recommended that library sources (print and electronic) should be aggressively advertised to attract students’ attention and more library orientation and ICT training courses should be provided.. / Nigerian Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)

The thesis addresses lawyers’ information seeking in England and Wales. It aims to gain an understanding of lawyers’ information needs and use of resources relating to case law, statute and commentary, both hardcopy and electronic, with an interest in open access resources in particular. The study comprised of semi-structured interviews of 11 legal professionals qualified to practice in England and Wales. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Questions were designed to elicit what resources participants used, what they found advantageous or disadvantageous about these resources, and any other factors that influenced whether a resource was used or not. The homogeneous participant group means results are mostly applicable to solicitors early in their career working in large firms, but some conclusions can be drawn as to use of open access by legal professionals. An electronic format is no barrier to use. Open access resources are used alongside commercial and free resources. Open access resources are perceived as advantageous for specific tasks. What is perceived as advantageous or disadvantageous depends on a number of underlying factors, such as task, task complexity and environment. However, although having beneficial features can affect resource use, advantageous characteristics are not enough to guarantee use. Lloyd’s theory of information literacy is of help in explaining resource selection. The study’s findings support other models of information seeking behaviour, especially Ellis’s model.