In their studies on student motivation in th4e 1990s, Gorham & Christophel and Christophel & Gorham found that students perceived their own demotivation to be caused by instructor behaviors. While there are studies that explore the topic of student demotivation and other studies that illustrate the great influence instructors have on student information seeking behaviors, research focusing on the connection between these two concepts is almost nonexistent. Using Gorham & Christophel's concept of instructor-owned student demotivation, this mixed-methods study sought to identify which instructor behaviors doctoral computer science and information science students found demotivating and to what extent their perceptions of these demotivating instructor behaviors influenced their information seeking behaviors in a face-to-face classroom. Demographic and student-perceived demotivating instructor behavior surveys along with semi-structured interviews and follow-up questions were used to collect data. The surveys will be analyzed using descriptive statistics in Excel, and the semi-structured interviews and follow up questions were analyzed using content analysis and Colaizzi's method of phenomenological enquiry in NVivo. The findings showed that instructor demotivating behaviors not only influence student information seeking behaviors in the classroom, but they also can lead to lasting effects on the student. In addition, the participants have expectations of instructor behaviors, which come from their own experiences. These expectations also influence the level of demotivation they feel in a face-to-face classroom.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a degree of Masters of Arts in Library and Information Science from the Department of Information Studies at the University of Zululand, 2009. / Today’s online experience has literally added a new dimension to our information seeking activities, presenting users with a vast array of options. A considerable amount of information has migrated from the print world and is now available electronically. Thus a lot of people immediately associate the World Wide Web (WWW) with information and its related activities. This association partly prompted this study on the web information seeking behaviour of students and staff at the University of Zululand and the Durban University of Technology. Web information seeking generally raises new challenges within academic dispensations in different settings and in different ways. The selected institutions were assumed to be at different levels of development because of the country’s (apartheid) history; the former institution is rural-based and the latter, urban based, and it was thought that this would affect the uptake of ICTs. The objectives of the study were: i) To identify the web information needs of students and staff; ii) To determine how, when and where web information is sought; iii) To establish the channels used when searching the web for information; iv) To identify the challenges faced when searching for information online; and v) To recommend the best ways to improve web information seeking and use within the two institutions. Both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were employed in a survey. The main research instrument was a questionnaire, supported by limited interviews. The results show that the web is a platform that people in academia have come to rely on, although only a few of its numerous channels are used significantly. A wholesale swing in the pattern of use from reliance on traditional information providers to this new medium was not evident; however, the old and the new appear to coexist. Many claimed that although the web is now their first choice as an information source, they have not discarded the ‘old ways’ - they still visit the library and feel it plays a vital role in meeting their information needs. A number of challenges were identified, chief among them being connectivity problems. Bandwidth was particularly problematic and made worse by the two institutions’ large student populations. Relevant infrastructure (computer laboratories, computers, etc.) seemed available, although inadequate. The results shed light on the general retrieval difficulties students’ face. Most of these appeared to stem from poor training or lack of skills. Many users, students in particular, appeared to be familiar with how web technology works but not with how to use the technology to achieve results. The study recommends comprehensive training programs that address the skills’ deficiencies noted. It is also necessary to institute mechanisms that improve both physical and intellectual access to web resources.

No description available.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to investigate how readers go about selecting fiction in their everyday life. The aims are to get information on where readers get their information regarding which books to read in their everyday life, which sources they use and why they use those sources. The study focuses on readers who are 18+ and that practice leisure reading in their everyday life. The research questions are: What sources do adult readers use to find book tips? How do grown up readers describe and motivate the sources they use to find book tips? The methodology used is qualitative semi-structured interviews with eight adult readers. The theoretical framework used in the study comes from Kirsty Williamson’s theory of the role of incidental information acquisition in regards to the everyday life information needs and seeking. The results of the study show that the majority of the participating readers’ sources for their everyday life information seeking align with earlier studies. From the perspective of Williamson’s theory readers use sources such as family and friends which are categorized as intimate personal networks, social media, blogs and book clubs which falls under broader personal networks, mass media such as news paper, hash tags, TV and internet, and institutional sources such as the library and book shops.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The Internet is growing in popularity as a health information sourceespecially among young adults. Interactivity has been pinpointed as the keyfeature that makes the Internet a potentially powerful health communicationtool. It is being heralded as a hybrid channel that has the capacity not only todisseminate health information to mass audiences both asynchronously andsynchronously, but also has the capacity to provide an engaging and stimulatingenvironment that can promote exploratory learning and active processing ofinformation. Despite these exciting claims, there is still a dearth of theoreticallydrivenempirical studies providing support for or against these assumptions. Westill know very little about how interactive technologies actually influenceinformation use, learning and motivational processes.A popular view is that the communicative efficacy of interactivetechnologies is influenced more with their match with comprehension processesand individual differences than with the level of interactivity itself. This studywas designed to tease out the potential effects of different levels of interactivityon comprehension and to determine whether individual differences in need forcognition would moderate such effects. About 441 young adults (ages 18-26)from the University of Kentucky participated in a 2 by 2 factorial experimentdesigned to test the effects of two levels of interactivity and two levels of needfor cognition on the comprehension of a health website on skin cancer.Results showed a significant main effect for level of interactivity oncomprehension scores holding the covariates, time on task and reading style,constant. Those exposed to the high interactivity site had significantly highercomprehension scores than those exposed to the low interactivity site. Therewas, however, no significant main effect for need for cognition, neither was therea significant interaction effect between level of interactivity and need forcognition on comprehension scores. Implications of these results and suggestionsfor future research are also discussed.

This paper argues that the distinction between grey and non-grey (or white) literature will become less relevant over time, as online discovery options proliferate. In the meantime, the political success of the open access publishing movement has valuable lessons for proponents of increasing access to grey literature.