The Information Seeking Behavior of Teacher Trainees of Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Bimbilla, Ghana
- September 8, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Category: Library
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VIII, August 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Dawuda Issah1, Abubakari Hafiz2
1Acting Librarian, Department of Library and Information Science, E. P. College of Education, Bimbilla, Ghana
2Acting Librarian, Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Library Department, Bagabaga College of Education, Tamale, Ghana
Abstract: – This study investigated the information seeking behavior of teacher trainees of the Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Bimbilla, Ghana. Hundred (100) first and second year teacher trainees were selected for the study. Respondents were selected using random sampling technique and questionnaires were used as the data collection instrument. The results showed that, the information needs of the trainees were related to their course work. Also, internet was found to be the main source of information for the teacher trainees and finally print information resources was preferred to electronic resources by the teacher trainees. The study suggested the following recommendations; the library should improve upon the collection to reflect the programs run in the college, the library must be provided with internet connection, the collection of the library must be updated regularly to meet the specific needs of the students and finally, the library should adopt marketing strategies such as orientation programs, public lectures, public announcements to always keep users abreast with their services.
Key words: information behavior, teacher trainees, Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Information Seeking
I. INTRODUCTION
The 21st century is duped ‘’Information Age’’ because so much information is generated at a level that is difficult to access it by information users. Due to the enormous increase in the volume of relevant literature, especially in the field of science and technology, the situation has given birth to the concept of information explosion. This term describes the occurring phenomenon of data superfluity attributed to the vast volume of published information; in this context, controlling and organizing information, in a way such that the problem of information overload is avoided, is quite a challenging task (Dipak & Kundu, 2015). This has brought a challenge on libraries to study the information needs of their users and to serve them with appropriate information to meet their needs.According to Kadli (2011), the need for information is one of the cognitive needs of humankind so much so that information seeking is a basic activity indulged in by all people and manifested through a particular behavior. People contact friends, use mobile phones, watch televisions; others read books and Newspapers in an attempt to acquire the needed information. Therefore information is regarded as one of the basic needs of people.
