Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
2019
Abstract
Today, information has become a least necessity of everyday life. For anything and everything information is required. Information can be gathered from a variety of sources. Libraries serve as a center for providing the right information to the right people at all times. User studies are to be recognized as an important part of the information packages. Information providers such as libraries need to be aware of their information seeking methods in order that they might be able to provide better services. This paper intents to study the Information Seeking Behaviour of Women Library users in the university libraries Southern District of Tamil Nadu with reference to Alagappa, Madurai Kamaraj and MS universities. The respondents are women post-graduate students, women research scholars and women staff members. Data has been collected from a sample of 1200 respondents. The major objectives of the present study are to identify the women library users, their need of information, their frequency of visit, the amount of time they spent in the library, their usage of formal information sources and their usage of e-resources. The significance of the study is to analyse and evaluate facts and facets pertaining to the Information Seeking Behaviour of women students, scholars and faculty members in the university libraries in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. The data collected have been analysed separately for each object and for each university. The main findings of the study are that only 45 percent to 67 percent of the women respondents visit library daily. Since library hours have not been allotted in the time table, many PG students visit library only during their leisure hours. Majority of the women respondents visit library in all the three Universities to collect information for their career development. The study reveals that majority of the PG students and research scholars refer to e-resources to update their general knowledge as well current information about their subjects.