This study investigated the information behaviour and use of library resources of Generation Z undergraduate

students at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Negeri Sembilan. In a world where digital technology is

ubiquitous, academic libraries are struggling to remain relevant to Generation Z. The Generation Z students are

using online resources and taking responsibility for their own learning. A questionnaire was administered to

undergraduate students at UiTM Negeri Sembilan on their information needs, information seeking behaviour,

information literacy skills and use of library resources. The results were subjected to quantitative analysis

not lead to high library use. Actively and strategically seeking information behaviour is the predictor to library

use. If library use is to be increased then libraries at UiTM must develop services which are digital, which provide

specific training in information literacy and which supply library resources in formats which are consonant with

student information behaviour patterns. The results of this study will serve as a base to allow libraries and

educators a framework to improve access to and use of academic information via strategies which are user

Keywords: Information behaviour, Information literacy, Information-seeking behaviour, Library resource use,

Studies have shown that Malaysian students are aware of their academic information requirements but lack high

levels of information literacy skills, which have the effect of restricting the efficient use of the university’s

scholarly databases (Naveed & Mahmood, 2021). By way of example, a study conducted at UiTM has revealed

that only about one-third of respondents use the digital library services provided adequately, while the rest

depend heavily on lecture notes written by themselves (87%) and by others (72%) for their information needs,

indicating a vast gap between the information needs of students and the need to consult the formal library

Similar findings have come to light here, in South-East Asia, where the high information needs required for study

do not lead automatically to a use of institutional libraries and library-resources because of digital convenience

such facilities properly. Again, it has been reported that as many as 85% of students overlook aspects of the

credibility of sources in getting information at the time of searching the Internet (Hsu, 2021). Even where greater

accessibility of infrastructure has been gained, students have tendencies to prefer receiving free sources of

information that are accessible very rapidly, such as in the use of Google and social media, to availing themselves

In the background of these developments, changes at the global level are also noted where undergraduates (of

Gen Z) in all countries of the world prefer to use social media and other electronic forms of media for searching

for information, without the necessity of traditional library use. Thus, there is a clear need for a rethinking of the

academic services we offer in Libraries (Okwu et al., 2025; Cain et al., 2022). The complex interaction between

such needs and information searching behaviour, information literacy and library usage is considerable. Several

library systems of any description always seems to be for either reason of difficulty and expensiveness or of low

It has been shown positively to relate the degree to which students are information literate, where literacy is

(defined) as the need to be able to locate, to evaluate, and to use information (ie. use of libraries), although

literacy is not sufficient it would appear unless allied to a willingness to seek and use appropriate channels (Akter

This study, therefore, is designed to investigate information searching behaviours in the context of Library

resource used of our own undergraduates of UiTM Negeri Sembilan. The focus of the study concentrates on (1)

the information need, the information searching and the information literacy of the students involved, and (2)

the relationships of such factor worship (of various aspects of the library information resource centre). This will

The notion of digital literacy has evolved substantially Generation Z (born between 1997-2012) is regarded as

the first fully digital-native generation, shaped by experiences that relate to ubiquitous access to the internet,

mobile delivery systems, and algorithmically structured information environments. Their preferences for how,

when, and in what mode learning takes place emphasise speed, personalisation, and interactivity, setting them

apart from previous generations (Devi, Ramli, & Malek, 2024). Cain, Loewenstein, and Harbaugh (2022) found

that Gen Z learners favour multimodal resources providing a combination of visual, aural, and interactive

resources, which provides a congruity with the prevalence of platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, in

entertainment and education. On the other hand, exposure to these digital environments has changed their

This coincides with research findings on student autonomy—Devi et al. (2024) assert that Gen Z students want

educational arenas to provide for formal learning with mobile apps, social media, and cloud technologies. Higher

educational institutions and particularly libraries have the challenges of aligning with generations who want the

preferences of this demographic group. In many contexts, the high academic information needs of students

appear not to translate into library usage by them. Htay, Ling and Tan (2022), for instance, noted that 92% of

Southeast Asian students resorted to the default function of Google for searching information, while nearly 88%

made recourse to social media information in respect of academic queries, even although they had access to

The use of these resources is superseded by convenience and habit. In similar vein, it was found by Nieminen,

Savolainen and Gu (2020) that Malaysian dental students relied heavily not on library provided databases, but

on peer feedback and lecture notes, despite a recognition of the value of credible information. Emerging studies

seem to confirm that library usage depends less on the existence of resources, but rather more on default behavior

types of students themselves, as well as on perceptions regarding usefulness. Zaki, Anuar and Dollah (2023)

underline the mediating factors of behavior and perception; libraries may have vast resources but unless students’

behaviors are congruent with library systems and unless they have the competencies of literacy, library usage is

very low. This is especially true as far as Gen Z is concerned. The defaults of their behaviors are founded in

In addressing Generation Z undergraduates, the combined incidence of high need, digital preference, and

information literacy gaps presents a paradox. Students have high academic needs for information, yet they tend

to bypass library systems for quicker options favoured by their peers. Devi et al. (2024) reported that Generation

Z students from South-East Asia routinely incorporate YouTube and Twitter in their studies and routines, placing

them in the category of primary sources for explanation and peer experience. Okwu et al. (2025) reported similar

findings, in that Nigerian undergraduates shunned the library for e-learning platforms and social media as the

backbone to their information-literacy based needs. Regarding undergraduates in Malaysia, the UiTM situation

presents a similar pattern. Utilizing findings from UiTM Negeri Sembilan, the students had high needs for

information and moderate information literacy yet retained a tendency toward sources from the open web rather

of libraries. However, there has been some recent research that does outline the beneficial nature of interventions.

Akter and Ahmed (2024) have shown that the students in Bangladesh have reported massive improvements in

their information literacy scores—from an average of 28.4% correctness pre-training exposure to greatly

improved scores post-training—when exposure to structured information-literacy instruction is received. Similar

results have appeared elsewhere, in ASEAN situations, in which information literacy training has been integrated

These seem to indicate that the barriers which Generation Z students appear to face are not immutable uploaded

facets of the personality structure associated with the Generation, but rather deficits in skills that can be altered

by means of advice imparted in interventions which are targeted. In summary, regarding the behaviors of

Generation Z toward information, there appears to be a structural mismatch, in that high needs are present, but

stable, more active level of satisfaction, and once achieved this high information need would become engendered

that have possible effects on the dependent variable library information resource use. This fits within Wilson's

macro model (need, seeking, use) but also isolates IL skills as being a component which may enhance or impede

effective seeking and use. Thus, there is some implicit consideration given to the TAM concept: the degree to

which seeking, and IL skills translate into a library use variable may depend upon student perceptions of the

library's usefulness, facility of use, etc. (but these perceptions are not computed here being noted in interpreting

results). From our review of the literature, we have come up with the following extrapolated hypotheses: H1:

There is a significant relationship between undergraduate students' information need and their use of library

information resources. The students who perceive themselves to have a higher level of academic related

information need (for instance, those students who frequently have need for information for assignments,

study, information needs related to health) were more vigorous in their utilization of established databases and

institutional digital resources to satisfy those needs. From these findings we learn that the extent of the need and

specificity of the information required serve as a powerful predictor of the need to utilize formal library means.

We may predict in our case that students with a strong feeling of the need for substantive information (e.g., for

the completion of a thesis or major project) will evidence a much higher incidence of library use over those with

Dolničar and Boh Podgornik (2023) have investigated Slovenian students and found that those students who had

undergone targeted IL instructions were very much more competent in availing themselves of library eresources,

The model produced the paths from Information Need, Information Seeking, Information Literacy to Library

Resource Use. The PLS-SEM enabled us to check the validity of the constructs (convergent and discriminant)

and the paths (β), the t-values and p-values of the constructs. The statistics were all done using SPSS (for the

descriptives) and SmartPLS (for the SEM procedures). The standard ethical procedures were used for the study:

voluntary participation, anonymised answers as for all respondents, and ethical approval was obtained from the

Among the 374 undergraduate responses, the majority (68.42% n = 256) were female students and male students

comprised 31.58% (n = 118). The significant gender imbalance with over two-thirds female may reflect generally

As shown in Table 2, most of the 374 generations Z undergraduates who replied (18-28) were in diploma-level

programmes especially those which were applied, scientific and technical. The most popular was the Diploma

in Microbiology which catered for 29.41% of the students thus showing there was great interest in the life

sciences. Next was the Diploma in Halal Management with 16.04%, this shows that Gen Z is interested in cultural

and regulatory issues. The Bachelor of Information Science (Hons) Library Management diploma and the

balance of academic subjects to recreational ones. The Diploma in Textile and Clothing Technology catered for

7.49% of the students which would bear out the creative and practical approach to learning favored by Gen Z.

Smaller proportions of students were enrolled for the Diploma in Recreation and Parks Management (6.68%),

Bachelor of Science Mathematics (5.35%) and Bachelor of Information Science (Hons) Records Management

(4.81%). The least popular was the Bachelor in Administrative Science (Hons) which had only 1.34% of the

It can be seen in Table 3 that all 374 respondents of this study were of the Generation Z age group which covers

those in the age group of 17 to 28 years. This is consistent with those age groups of diploma and undergraduate

students in Malaysian public universities. Most of the respondents (64.17%, n = 240) are aged below 20 years

which would likely constitute students of first year or second year diplomas in the age groups of 17 to 19 years.

students aged between 25 and 28 years, which cohort may comprise those studying non normal degree

programmes, returning to study or late starters. Although the latter group also forms part of the Gen Zs, they may

show some slight changes in manner of knowledge seeking because of the different experiences and

responsibilities in life which they have experienced. Overall, the demographics as presented demonstrates that

the study also takes into consideration the kind of academic habits and preferences which the digital native Gen

Literacy to 0.926 for Information Use. This demonstrates that the survey items have a high internal reliability in

measuring the information behaviors of the members of Generation Z students. Convergent validity was

measured using standardized factor loadings, Composite Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted

(AVE). All the factor loadings were above 0.70, and the respective AVE of the constructs exceeded the minimum

criterion of 0.50, ranging from 0.540 to 0.673. The CR ranged from 0.854 to 0.911, pointing to the high internal

measured using both the Fornell-Larcker test and the Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) ratio tests which indicated

that the constructs were empirically distinct from each other. Discriminant validity is said to exist when the

square root of the AVE of the specific construct exceeded the correlation of this construct with the other

constructs (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). This was established to be true for all constructs as can be seen in Table

5. In addition, the HTMT values were all below the conservative critical value of 0.85 alluded to in the literature

as shown in Table 6, indicating that the constructs do not overlap excessively and are conceptually distinct from

each other (Henseler et al., 2015). From these validation results, it can be inferred that the measurement model

is both reliable and valid when examining the information behavior and library resource use among Generation