Using a case study approach this study investigated how college students in Vlore, Albania seek and use information resources for academic and personal needs and whether they follow a pattern similar to Brenda Dervin's sense-making, or Marcia Bates' berry-picking information seeking models. Influencing factors studied were economic factors, information communication technologies and information culture/policy. A literature review showed that no previous published research has studied information seeking behavior of college age students and faculty in Albania. Thirty-four college students and two full time faculty completed a survey and a smaller group were interviewed. The results of the study indicate that Google is the main source for seeking information for both academic and personal purposes. College students are not introduced or taught on how to evaluate information sources. The information communication technology needs improvement to support information needs. The library as a major information resource was not apparent to most students. College students utilize berry-picking as the information seeking model and faculty use sense-making, as a model of information seeking. This study adds to the knowledge of the information seeking behavior of college students in a developing country, the need for information literacy courses at the university level, and the identification of additional areas of research regarding information communication technologies, information policy, and literacy for developing countries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1404543 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Kabashi, Artemida |
| Contributors | Wheeler, Maurice B., Cleveland, Ana D., O'Connor, Brian Clark, Philbrick, Jodi, Alemneh, Daniel Gelaw |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | vii, 85 pages, Text |
| Coverage | Albania |
| Rights | Public, Kabashi, Artemida, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
Page generated in 0.0022 seconds