Abstract:
This study deals with the Information Seeking Behavior (ISB) of the Humanities and Social
Science (HSS) undergraduates of University of Colombo with four objectives; to study the
information resource usage, information seeking process, and the barriers encountered by them
in seeking information, and to make recommendations to alleviate the issues. A questionnaire
and Focus Group Meetings (FGMs) were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data
respectively. Convenient Sampling method was used and the response rate was 82% out of 550
questionnaires and 95 attended the FGMs. SPSS (ver. 22) and manual analyses were used to
analyse quantitative and qualitative data. The majority use Internet instead of trusted resources
provided by the library, and use self-taught criteria to evaluate information instead of standard
methods, majority consult peers for help with information resource usage and, the majority has
not had any training in using the library resources or Internet. They encounter several barriers
related to the resources, facilities, services and training which discourage them from
approaching the library primarily, to satisfy their information needs. The process they adopt to
seek and use information conforms to some other information seeking models; however their
information seeking behavior does not mature across the academic years as it should be, and an
uncertainty with information seeking prevails throughout their undergraduate life. While more
research is required to substantiate the gravity of this issue, librarians must collaborate with the
faculty to reduce the stress and uncertainty levels encountered by the undergraduates moving
from print–paradigm to digital-paradigm, and to transform the students in to digitally literate
who can step in to the world of work with confidence.
