Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experience
Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Borås
2007-01-01
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| Series: | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://informationr.net/ir/12-2/paper290.html |
| _version_ | 1826841809553195008 |
|---|---|
| author | Zahed Bigdeli |
| author_facet | Zahed Bigdeli |
| author_sort | Zahed Bigdeli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:49:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-849dc9de60fb40d4bb644e70b6eb5097 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1368-1613 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-16T13:08:34Z |
| publishDate | 2007-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Borås |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-849dc9de60fb40d4bb644e70b6eb50972025-02-02T14:47:58ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132007-01-01122290Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experienceZahed BigdeliIranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habitshttp://informationr.net/ir/12-2/paper290.htmlIntroduction. This descriptive research attempted to investigate the information seeking behaviour of engineers at Khuzestan Sugar-Cane and By-Product Company in Iran. Method. To collect the dataa questionnaire was distributed using Likert-type questions with six points ranging from 'never use' to 'very useful'. Of the 250 questionnaires distributed158 (63.2%) were used in the data analyses. Reliability coefficient was measured by the Cronbach Alpha which was 0.81 Analysis. Analysis of variance and the Tukey test were used to test the sole hypothesis of the research and to see if engineers who worked in various sites were different in their information-seeking behaviour. To answer the research questionsdescriptive statistics were employed. Results. The results showed that the engineers in different work areas were significantly different in terms of information-seeking behaviour. The most important motivations for seeking information were: to develop their knowledge and expertise; to be able to use new job-related technologies and to be up-to-date in their specialty. Conclusions. Distance appears to have impact on information use and information-seeking behaviour of engineers. Thuslibrarians must consider the Zipf's 'principle of least effort' in serving their clients. |
| spellingShingle | Zahed Bigdeli Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experience Information Research: An International Electronic Journal Introduction. This descriptive research attempted to investigate the information seeking behaviour of engineers at Khuzestan Sugar-Cane and By-Product Company in Iran. Method. To collect the data a questionnaire was distributed using Likert-type questions with six points ranging from 'never use' to 'very useful'. Of the 250 questionnaires distributed 158 (63.2%) were used in the data analyses. Reliability coefficient was measured by the Cronbach Alpha which was 0.81 Analysis. Analysis of variance and the Tukey test were used to test the sole hypothesis of the research and to see if engineers who worked in various sites were different in their information-seeking behaviour. To answer the research questions descriptive statistics were employed. Results. The results showed that the engineers in different work areas were significantly different in terms of information-seeking behaviour. The most important motivations for seeking information were: to develop their knowledge and expertise; to be able to use new job-related technologies and to be up-to-date in their specialty. Conclusions. Distance appears to have impact on information use and information-seeking behaviour of engineers. Thus librarians must consider the Zipf's 'principle of least effort' in serving their clients. |
| title | Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experience |
| title_full | Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experience |
| title_fullStr | Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experience |
| title_short | Iranian engineers' information needs and information seeking habits: an agro-industry company experience |
| title_sort | iranian engineers information needs and information seeking habits an agro industry company experience |
| topic | Introduction. This descriptive research attempted to investigate the information seeking behaviour of engineers at Khuzestan Sugar-Cane and By-Product Company in Iran. Method. To collect the data a questionnaire was distributed using Likert-type questions with six points ranging from 'never use' to 'very useful'. Of the 250 questionnaires distributed 158 (63.2%) were used in the data analyses. Reliability coefficient was measured by the Cronbach Alpha which was 0.81 Analysis. Analysis of variance and the Tukey test were used to test the sole hypothesis of the research and to see if engineers who worked in various sites were different in their information-seeking behaviour. To answer the research questions descriptive statistics were employed. Results. The results showed that the engineers in different work areas were significantly different in terms of information-seeking behaviour. The most important motivations for seeking information were: to develop their knowledge and expertise; to be able to use new job-related technologies and to be up-to-date in their specialty. Conclusions. Distance appears to have impact on information use and information-seeking behaviour of engineers. Thus librarians must consider the Zipf's 'principle of least effort' in serving their clients. |
| url | http://informationr.net/ir/12-2/paper290.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zahedbigdeli iranianengineersinformationneedsandinformationseekinghabitsanagroindustrycompanyexperience |