




































                     American International Journal of Multidisciplinary Scientific Research 

Vol. 6, No. 4; 2020 

                                       ISSN 2638-1249   E-ISSN 2638-1273 

Published by CRIBFB, USA 

 

1 

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS INFORMATION SEEKING 

BEHAVIOUR IN THE FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT 

SCIENCES, BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO, NIGERIA 

 

Rabiu Nurudeen Mohammed 

Rank: Librarian II 

Bauchi State University, Gadau. P.M.B.65 Gadau, Nigeria 

E-mail: nurudeenr4@gmail.com 

 

ABSTRACT 
The study examines postgraduate student’s information seeking behavior in the faculty of 

management sciences, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. Information play critical role in human 

daily activities such as school life, work, marital life and any other kind of scenario. The concept 

of information seeking behavior has attracted researchers’ attention and has been of great 

concern to stakeholders in the academia. Academic libraries avail information from different 

sources and formats. Objectively the study examines postgraduate students’ information seeking 

behavior in order to understand students’ information seeking behavior and provide guide to 

improve the quality of education and performance. Survey research design were use and the 

population consist of the entire postgraduate students in the faculty of management sciences at 

Bayero University, Kano, due to difficulty to reach all the population, purposive sampling were 

applied which result to the selection of (200) respondents comprising of (50) respondents from 

each of the four departments and questionnaire were issued to them. From the findings it is 

obvious that in the course of carrying out their studies postgraduate students seek information as 

a result of activities they engage such exam preparation, dissertation/thesis work, updating 

knowledge, lecture notes update, personal reading and general reading. However, the result 

implies that majority of the respondents use library for information concerning exam 

preparation while the lowest is for general reading to improve their knowledge. The study 

conclude that postgraduate students do engage in information seeking behaviour for various 

reasons even though these are hinder by some obstacles. The study recommends the need for 

management to improve service delivery in the aspect of electronic library, researchers should 

be guided easily and educated so as to facilitate easy collection of library materials, users 

should also be guided to enhance easy retrieval of information, continuous training of library 

staff should be given attention in order for them to be friendly and give quality service to 

information seekers and finally problem of poor electricity supply should be addressed to make 

the environment conducive for learning. 

 

Keywords: Information Seeking Behaviour, Postgraduate Students, Libraries, Nigeria.  

 

INTRODUCTION 

Information seeking behavior is one of the globally recognized concepts in the library and 

information science. Universities give knowledge, while knowledge depends on the information. 

The concept of information seeking behavior has attracted researchers’ attention and has been of 

mailto:nurudeenr4@gmail.com


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great concern to stakeholders. A resourceful academic library provides information from 

different sources and formats. Often times university libraries avail information to students at no 

cost. Even though, nowadays information are available, note withstanding, students needs to 

understand their information needs, know where, how and when to locate relevant information 

easily in order satisfy their needs which serve as catalysts for enhancing their learning. It is very 

important for students to understand, be able to gather and organize information needs for 

academic purposes and also for their overall benefits and promoting innovation and change for 

national development at large. 

Moreover, “students become experts at what is required and expected of them within the 

boundaries of the classroom, but what happens when they need to take what is learned in school 

and use it in the reality of their lives?”(Kozol, 2005).Previous researchers argued that the way 

students which organize their learning and search for information in this era comes in form of 

new knowledge leads to a change in actions of people exposed to it (Fasola, 2013). Furthermore, 

information seeking in the academic environment is often aid by library because academic 

library be it manual or virtual library play critical role in providing information to students of 

higher learning especially postgraduate students. This is because of their experience as they 

pursue a second or third degree which they must have been having some little experience at the 

undergraduate level. On this note, library use is significant to the academic life of students, by 

visiting libraries students get to update themselves latest trends in their area of studies; therefore, 

library plays a significant role in facilitating information seeking used by students. Meanwhile, it 

is worthy to mention that the role of university libraries is not only limited to the traditional way 

of reserving published materials but ensure that the information needs of users are met by its own 

in  modern way of electronic resources and services alike (Manjunath & Babu, 2018). Through 

library use, individual satisfy his information needs desire and close a gap in his knowledge 

(Singh, 2015). 

To this end on the basis of the foregoing, this study find worth researching to study 

postgraduate students information seeking behavior of postgraduate students in the faculty of 

management sciences, Bayero university, Kano, Nigeria. The Objective of the study is to 

examines postgraduate students’ information seeking behavior in order to understand students’ 

information seeking behavior and provide guide to improve the quality of education and 

performance, find out the problems postgraduate students’ faced in the process of seeking 

information. However,  careful observation at the faculty of management science, it was discover 

that postgraduate students sometimes resort to depend on their colleagues in the class for 

information, even though there is library where adequate information resources can be sought to 

enhance their learning. Being at higher level of learning, postgraduates students need to 

understand and able to gather and organized information needs not for academic purposes only 

but also for overall benefits to themselves and the society in order to promote innovation and 

national development. Another problem is the students’ inadequate knowledge of information 

search process that makes information seeking difficult task, this result to frustration and 

dissatisfaction with search results. Therefore there is need for the learning environment that 

makes information seeking process easier. Previous studies uses many approaches to provide 

explanation for the information seeking process, hence, this study add to the existing researches 

and body of knowledge specifically using one of the Nigerian university assessing postgraduate 

student’s information seeking behavior. The purpose is to understand postgraduate students’ 

information seeking behavior and provide guides so as to improve quality of the education, 

knowing well that quality is at the heart of education thereby improving performance and 



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standard of education in the university for the benefit of students and the overall benefits of 

society at large. 

Brief of Bayero University Kano  

Bayero University Kano is located along Gwarzo Road, Kano city Northwest Nigeria. The 

university occupied two campuses old campus which is situated at Kabuga and the new campus 

which is situated about 10 kilometers away from the heart centre. It was founded in 1975, when 

it was renamed from Bayero University College and upgraded to university. It is the first 

University in Kano State. The postgraduate school is also located at new campus Gwarzo Road 

and the faculty of management sciences is also located at new campus Gwarzo Road. In addition, 

the Faculty run four courses and this was carried out by four departments namely, Accounting, 

Business administration and Entrepreneurship, Public Administration, Banking and Finance, 

therefore the current structure of the faculty as an entity offers four departments. 

 

The Concept of Information 

Information play critical role in human life, it plays an important role in human daily activities 

such as school life, work or any kind of situation. Different scholars viewed the concept of 

information differently. For instance, Uttor (1999) defined information as data value in planning, 

decision making and evaluation of any programme. The scholar further stated that information is 

a data subjected to processing functions which is capable of answering user’s query be it 

recorded, summarized or simply collected and eventually help decision making in the 

organization. Meanwhile, information and comes in some types of reports which can be 

understood, it can be carried to users in form of books, journals, magazines, public and private 

sector documents, published and unpublished documents for mass circulation or restricted for 

confidentiality purpose, research reports made available to colleagues in form of reports, books 

articles and non-printed materials, all these can be said to constitute information. Similarly, 

Ugwu, Ogbu & Aniekwe (2017) sees information as data subjected to some processing functions 

capable of answering a user’s query recorded, summarized or simply collections that help in 

making decision. However, As cited in Eskola, (1998),in his view Belkin (1977) defined the 

concept as data associated with text which is generated and modified by purpose, intent, 

knowledge of the recipient’s, conceptual structure that underlines the surface structure. 

Contributing to the concept, Ingwersen, (1998) sees information as a product of 

transformation of data of the generator’s cognitive structures by intentions, model of the 

recipients’ state of knowledge, and in the form of signs as information. He further expatiates by 

saying that it is a structure which when perceived may affect and transform recipient’s state of 

knowledge.  On the basis of the foregoing, definitions were offered by researchers which implies 

that there is no standardized acceptable definition of the concept, but researchers view according 

to their understanding and perception, hence, this would add to the existing proliferation of 

definitions by defining information as a vital organ in the human survival which students utilized 

to acquire knowledge for the benefits of themselves and the society at large. Critically scholars 

have consensus on the importance of information for the continue survival of human race, this 

prompted Adekunle (2014) to stressed the significant of information in the society as it plays a 

significant role in our professional and personal lives, hence according to him it has become the 

most important element for progress  

 

 

 



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The concept of Information Seeking Behaviour 

Ajiboye (2007) put it that information seeking behavior is defined as a way and manner of 

gathering and sourcing of information for personal use, knowledge updating and development 

designed by an individual’s. However, cited in Kakai et al. (2004), Faire-Wessels (1990) opined 

that information seeking behavior is the way people search for and utilize information. He went 

ahead to observed that, often times as a result of need to complete course assignment, prepare for 

class discussions, seminars, workshops, conferences, or write final year thesis or dissertations, 

students’ seek for information actively or purposeful. However, sometimes postgraduate students 

finds it difficult to search relevant information, perhaps some may not have basic information 

seeking skills as they depends on using trial and error methods of research in the process of their 

studies, hence limits their capabilities to maximize full research potentials expected for them at 

postgraduate levels and they do not satisfy their needs adequately. 

Similarly, Amin & Shima (2007) opined that information seeking behavior refers to a 

basic activity indulged by people and manifested through a particular behavior. They also sees it 

as an aspect of scholarly work of interest to academic librarians who strive to develop 

collections, services and structures that facilitate information seeking easily. 

Moreover, in accordance with Aina (2004) information seeking behavior of users 

depends to some extend on factors such as education, access to library and the length of time a 

user devote to information seeking. The scholar further to states that no matter how 

comprehensive the resources and services of a library are, it is important that the services are 

publicized widely so that users could seek information easily. More so, In recent times the 

concept of information seeking behavior  has been of great concern as researchers argued that 

students needs to  organize their information search to serve their needs. While emphasizing 

further the importance of the concept, Pwadura, et al. (2018) are of the opinion that information 

seeking behavior  is a drive that opens up access to information, data, knowledge utilization and 

dissemination which can be understood as the way and manner people search for and utilize 

information for personal use, knowledge updating and development purpose. 

 

Role of Academic Library in Information Seeking by Students 

Academic libraries are developed to satisfy the needs of its users. Academic libraries are 

equipped with various resources and service in order to build and maintain confidence in their 

users. Library is set up to provide information resources and services in order to promote 

learning and innovation and ultimately meet the purpose of the university which is purposely 

mainly established to provide knowledge and bring development. More so, the role of library to 

the development of human intelligence cannot be underestimated, further, emphasizing the role 

of libraries, Bala, Madu & Awurdi (2018) stated that  It has become essential for the libraries to 

provide beyond the identified information needs, but also the needs of potential users. In 

addition, Alemna (2012) also explains that libraries play a greater role in national development 

through the support offer to the educational sector, the researcher further stressed that without 

libraries there can as well be no universities and innovations. 

Ugwu, Ogbu & Aniekwe (2017) opined that library is centre of the provision of 

information resources which empowered societies to produce highly resourceful people who also 

in turn impact positively on the society. It can also be called the centre of academic activities in 

tertiary institutions because of the pivotal role of providing quality academic resources that help 

learning and research. However, Attama & Ezema, (2015) added that library is a vacuum that 

serves the varying needs of all members of academic community both staff and students. 



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Meanwhile, it is paramount for library to provide effective services to users as library is  

established to serve its parent organization especially academic library which is set up to serve 

the university, to this end as a repository of knowledge that contains lots of varied and useful 

information, studies strongly support adequate user education for all categories of library users 

such as undergraduate students, postgraduate students, lecturers and other users for meaningful 

academic achievement.  

Moreover, with the present changes in learning and the dynamics and growth of 

knowledge and information all over the globe, it is important that academic libraries are expected 

to provide both manual and automated/online information services in order to meet the ever-

growing needs of their users. Based on this, Fabunmi (2004) contends that academic libraries 

should work harder to provide information services that is timely in its delivery and easy to 

understand, and the services delivered by courteous and knowledgeable staff. More so, the 

advent of ICTs has ushered in new dimensions and challenges in library and information services 

provision in academic libraries. Today, many of the major information services that are provided 

manually are now available and accessible on the Internet. Interestingly, library users can now 

search different databases, both online-and offline on CDs as well as online public access 

catalogues (OPACs) of other Academic libraries all over the globe.  

However, academic libraries provide various services which help users, stressing the role 

of the libraries; Aina (2004) and Nayeen, Islam, Chowdhury, and Zayed (2020) identified some 

major services offered by academic libraries in their quest to satisfy the information needs of 

diverse user groups. These information services includes lending services, inter library loan 

services, document delivery services, reservation services, reference services, selective 

dissemination of information. In addition, Aguolu (1983) suggests the following points as 

services by academic libraries which include bibliography services, inter-library loan services, 

user education services and creation of special collections. It is important to know that the 

academic library deals with different kinds of users with diverse information seeking behavior. 

Therefore, there is need to provide new services, re-design study and research facilities, and 

acquire collections that will meet the needs of users. On the basis of the above, it is worthy to 

mention effective library service by academic libraries help the students and staff which translate 

to achieving the key functions of enhancing teaching, research and community service upon 

which the university stands. 

Obstacles to the Availability and Accessibility of Information by Postgraduate Students 

Obstacles and challenges to the users of academic libraries are quit disturbing as this issue 

attracted the attention of researchers. For instance, Nnadozie (2010) identified the following 

emerging challenges faced by academic libraries in Nigeria whenever confronted with the task of 

information-seeking behavior. These obstacles were stated by users of academic libraries as 

discouraging for the effective use of library resources. 

a. Insufficient library materials such as reading tables, chairs, photocopy materials, stapling 

machines, and others. 

b. Some of the library environment is depressing, discouraging and frustrating for 

conducive learning. 

c. Majority of the library staff are poorly trained and unfriendly when attending to students. 

d. Often times improperly arrangement of the shelved library books and materials. 

e. Inadequate electricity supply. 

f. Non-functional e-library due to inadequate electricity supply and manpower to manage 

the computer and internet equipment.  



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g. Poor maintenance of library equipment. 

h.  Poorly orientation of library users  

 

Similarly, Ugwu, Ogbu and Aniekwe, (2017) and Islam, and Zaman (2013) mentioned that 

Some of the students lacks computer knowledge as majority of them are technophobia, 

consequently affect their information needs, some users neglect library orientation, more so, 

some universities management provide inadequate funds for acquisition and processing of library 

materials that will enable students and staff have required and relevant up to date materials for 

studies and research work. This is because some universities management does not give 

importance to library as the heartbeat of university. Inadequate and epileptic electricity supply is 

another obstacle, for instance, user can visit academic library for serious and urgent research 

which actually requires e-library but he may not be able to carry out the work because there will 

be no electricity to assess the internet. This will definitely affect the time for the completion of 

the work. Because of this, an assignment that will be completed in a week’s time may be delayed 

further for up to two or more weeks simply because the user, student or researcher is unable to 

assess the required information due to the absence of electricity to assess the internet. 

Furthermore, scholars contributed by identifying obstacles which continue to trail the area as 

students could be experiencing technical problems in accessing information resources, in many 

instances library catalogues do not provide adequate access to the libraries’ collections and lack 

required library literacy skills. More so, Baro & Fynman (2009) opined that factors like 

information illiteracy among library users, inadequate computer systems with internet 

connectivity in universities most libraries, poorly conducted user education programs, 

overreliance on manual information retrieval tools which leads to poor filing and slow retrieval 

were some of the obstacles that hinder effective utilization of library resources and services. In a 

similar development, Hartmann (2001) pointed out that due to poor library services by some 

library staff, students finds it difficult to locate items from the library collection and do not 

understand the processes for retrieving journal articles. Meanwhile, Ekhaguere (2004) identified 

absence of ICT connectivity in most academic libraries as great obstacles to the availability and 

accessibility of information seeking by students which adversely affects performance of 

postgraduate students. In addition, Ajiboye, (2007) in a study conducted at University of 

Botswana emphasized that student poor information seeking behavior was the reasons they 

experienced technical problems in accessing information resources. 

 

Information Search Process by Students 

Libraries are expected to meet the demands of users be it physical collection or online database. 

As well users are also required to search for information needed to fulfill their objectives. On the 

basis of this we anchor this study in line with the six ways suggested by Kuhlthau (1994). The 

researcher provides model that explain and focuses on the information search process from the 

user’s perspective as highlighted from stage one to stage six. 

Stage One: INITIATION: stage one which is initiation has to do with starting the process, 

characterized by feelings of uncertainty and more general ideas with a need to recognize or 

connect new to existing knowledge. 

Stage Two: SELECTION: stage two concerned with choosing the initial general topic with 

general feelings of optimism by using selection to identify the most useful areas of inquiry. 

Stage Three: EXPLORATION: stage three explores personal understanding and reduces the 

feelings of uncertainty and confusion about the topic and the process. 



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Stage Four: FORMULATION: stage four deals with the process information encountered 

accompany by feelings of increased confidence. 

Stage Five: COLLECTION: stage five focus on interacting smoothly with the information 

system with feelings of confidence as the topic is defined and extended by selecting and 

reviewing information. 

Stage Six: the final stage dwells on presentation on completing the process with a feeling of 

confidence or failure depending on how useful the findings are. 

 

REVIEW OF LITERATURE 

Previous studies conducted on information seeking behavior by researchers and this section 

would review some of the studies as they contributed to the ongoing debate in the area. Over the 

years, authors carry out studies on the information seeking behavior and information needs on 

the various categories of users of libraries. For instance, Lippincott & Kyrillidou (2004) 

conducted a study on information seeking behavior of undergraduate students. The study found 

that ninety percent of students used as sample of the study used search engines on a daily basis 

while ten percent used library daily as place of importance to study for the undergraduate 

students. 

In another study carried out by Majid & Ai (2002), that’s studied the use of information 

resources by computer engineering students in Singapore after analysis the study found that top 

five information resources pointed out by students in order of preference were books, lecturer 

note, internet and friends. Similarly, Kakai, Ikoja & Kigongo (2004) in a study carry out to 

establish what information, students of the institutions preferred using most and how much they 

valued them, using questionnaires students were asked to select and rank each information 

source. The study reveals that lecture notes and handouts were the most preferred and used 

sources by students followed by using departmental book-banks and then followed by the 

university library and then consulting and photocopying from colleagues and internet sources 

and lastly was university bookshop which took the last position.  

However, Chikonzo & Aina (2006) conducted a study on the information needs and 

sources of information used by veterinary students at the University of Zimbabwe. The study 

found that assignments writing, studying for tests or examination were the primary tasks for 

which students required information. They also found that major sources used to obtain 

information were books, videos, lecture notes, handouts, internet, projects, CD-ROM database 

and journals. However, the students confirmed making little use of indexes, abstracts and 

dissertations as reasons for information needs. 

Furthermore, Kerins, Madden & Fulton (2004), examine information-seeking patterns of 

final year undergraduate engineering students which they split evenly between two engineering 

institutes in Irish universities.  The study reported that engineering students seem to have a 

preference for channels that require the least effort, such as the internet. The study reported that 

students preferred internet because of its advantages over other sources. Meanwhile, Covi, 

(1999) analyzed information seeking behavior of academic researchers in the field of molecular 

biology, literacy theory, computer science and their use of digital libraries. The findings reveals 

that researchers indicates differences in the search strategies employed and the types of material 

selected among the researchers in the various academic disciplines. 

In another development, Ismail (2019) examines information needs and information 

seeking behaviour of postgraduate students in kwara state university, Malete, Nigeria. Using a 

questionnaire, the findings from the analysis reported that that all the respondents are in the habit 



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of using the library and more than half of them visit library every day and one-fifth visit library 

every alternate day and a very negligible portion do not use the library and they are having their 

personal book collection. The study also found that examinations, dissertation work and 

educational information, academic and research, employment and job related information are the 

main purpose why students visits library in kwara state university malete. 

More so, Adekunle, (2014) conducted a study to examines information needs and 

information seeking behavior among the students of on do state university of science and 

technology, Okitipupa, Nigeria. Using a sampled of students from the university through the use 

of questionnaires, The study found that factors like course work and assignment, examination 

and continuous assessment, general reading, seminars and workshops were the influence of 

students’ information seeking behavior. The scholars further revealed that internet, lecture notes, 

text books and handout appeared to be the most preferred and most used information sources. On 

the other hand, complexity and lack of basic understanding of academic database are the major 

problems associated with the students’ information seeking process in the library. The study 

concluded that it would be appropriate for students to take advantage of services provided by the 

library to enhance their information seeking behavior in this ever dynamic information 

technology driven era worldwide. 

Furthermore, in a study conducted by Kamanda (1999) at East African School of Library 

and Information Science, Makerere University, Uganda noted that the majority of the students 

used as sampled of the study either locates materials through browsing the shelves or sought 

assistance from library staff, but did not make full use of the card catalogue which pose 

challenges to the usage. The study further found that more than fifty percent of the sampled used 

experience problems locating library information materials. 

While, an effort put by Owalabi, Jimoh & Okpeh (2010) in their study of information 

seeking behavior of Polytechnic students reported that students seek information primarily for 

academic purposes only. The authors further affirm that about fifty nine and above of students 

used as respondents needs information in relation to their academic and therefore concludes that 

students at the polytechnic seek information to improve their academic performance.  

In another study of Oyediran- Tidings (2004) and Hasan, and Islam (2020) conducted 

empirically on the information needs and seeking behavior of library users reveals that greater 

percentage of the respondents usually seek for information concerning their course only. They 

seek for information to find out recent revelation and research in their area. To the researcher, 

this is not unexpected because the quest for certificate in their respective field of study forms 

their primary aim of being in the college. 

In view of the foregoing, it is obvious that varied of researches have been conducted by 

scholars with view to examined information seeking behaviour at different environment. 

Therefore, it is clear that reasons why individuals seek for information varies according to the 

purpose and needs for the information, hence factors that serve as the influencers of the 

information seeking behavior includes age, gender, type of  libraries, educational level, 

professional work experience and situation 

 

METHODOLOGY 

This study adapts the survey research design. Population of the study comprises the entire 

postgraduate students in the faculty of management science, the faculty consists of (4) four 

departments namely; Accounting, Public administration, Business administration and 

Entrepreneurship and Banking and Finance. However, considering the difficulties to cover the 



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entire population purposive sampling were applied where (50) fifty respondents were selected 

from each of the four departments and issued a questionnaire to fill and return.  

All the (200) two hundred questionnaires were returned but only one hundred and ninety 

two (192) were subjected to analysis. This is because (8) eight were considered invalid as they 

were not appropriately filled. The importance of questionnaire to survey research cannot be 

overemphasized, Osuala (1993) pined that questionnaire is more economical for reasons that 

time involved is less in conducting research and is directly associated with survey research 

design methods. However, the study was restricted to Bayero University Kano where faculty of 

management sciences was used. The collected data was analyzed and interpreted in the form of 

frequency and percentages. In view of the foregoing, the data collected through questionnaire is 

hereby analyzed. 

 

RESULTS 

        Table 1: Gender Distribution of Respondents 

 

Gender Frequency  Percentage (%) 

Male 130 66% 

Female 68 34% 

Total 192 100 

(Survey) 

 

Table 1 Shows that the male respondents are 130 representing (66%) while the female 

counterparts are 68 representing (34%). The result implies that there are more males than 

females pursuing postgraduate degree in the faculty of management sciences at Bayero 

University, Kano. However it also shows that males tend to go for higher degree than female 

counterparts. 

 

       Table 2: Age Distribution of Respondents 

 

Age Frequency  Percentage (%) 

25-30 35 18% 

31-35 88 46% 

36-40 42 22% 

Above 40 years 27 14% 

Total 192 100 

(Survey) 

 

Table 2 shows the age distribution of the respondents. The figures shows that respondents 

that falls within the age group of 25-30 years represents eighteen percent (18%) of the entire 

sample while those within the age group of 31-35 years are eighty eight which had the highest 

proportion of forty six percent (46%), equally, for the age group of 36-40 years are having by 

twenty two percent (22%) in the table and lastly those above 40 years occupies fourteen percent 

(14%) respectively.  

 

 

 



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       Table 3: Respondents Reasons for Information Seeking In the Library 

 

Reasons Frequency  Percentage (%) 

Personal Reading 28 15% 

Examination Preparation 90 47% 

Dissertation/Thesis Work 35 18% 

Notes Preparation 22 11% 

General Reading 17 9% 

Total 192 100 

(Survey) 

 

Table 3 shows the respondents reasons for information seeking at library. The table 

indicates that the highest proportion of the respondents visit library for the purpose of preparing 

for examination, this shows that forty seven (47%) of them actually visits library to study and 

seek more information in order to have good performance at the examination. However, the table 

also shows that students seeks information in order to prepare for dissertation/thesis, this would 

enable them acquaint with themselves with the previous studies conducted in the university more 

especially studies related to their area of interest, this had eighteen percent (18%) and this is 

closely followed by fifteen percent (15%) by the respondents who seek information for personal 

or career development. In addition, notes preparation had eleven percent (11%) which implies 

that respondents visit library for notes preparation, last in the table was general reading which 

had nine percent (9%), this implies that nine percent of the respondents seek general information 

which made them to visit library. 

 

        Table 4: Problems Respondents Faced In Information Seeking 

 

Reasons Frequency  Percentage (%) 

Non-availability 

ofsufficient library 

materials 

53 28% 

Poorly trained and 

unfriendly library staff 

20 10.4% 

Non-functional e-library 73 38% 

Epileptic electricity 

Supply 

31 16% 

locating items from the 

library collection can be 

difficult 

15 7.8% 

Total 192 100 

(Survey) 

Table 4 displays the various kinds of problems normally faced by respondents in the 

process of information seeking behavior. The table shows the problem with highest percentage is 

the non-functional e-library which has thirty eight (38%) of the respondents, meanwhile, this was 

followed by non-availability of sufficient library materials with twenty eight percent (28%), this 

implies that the library was not efficiently equipped with modern facilities. However, poor 



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electricity supply is another problem faced when trying to acquire information seeking by 

respondents with sixteen percent (16%), also the unfriendly library staff is also a challenge since 

it had ten percent (10%) of the respondent and lastly difficulty in locating items in the library had 

eight percent (8%) approximately which implies that respondents find difficult to locate items 

from the library collection. 

DISCUSSION 

The study examines postgraduate students’ information seeking behavior in the faculty of 

management sciences, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. From the findings of the study it is 

obvious that postgraduate students seek information in the course of carrying out their studies. 

Activities that make them seek information include updating knowledge, lecture notes updating, 

personal reading, examination preparation, dissertation/thesis work and general reading. 

However, from the result obtained it indicates that (47%) of the respondents  visit library and 

seek information for exam preparation, while (18%) reported that they use it for 

dissertation/thesis work and the least which is (9%) is for general reading. This result implies 

that majority of the respondents use library for information concerning exam preparation while 

the lowest is for general reading to improve knowledge in their personal knowledge. On the other 

hand,  the major problem that seems to affect information seeking is the non-functionality of the 

electronic library which has (38%) of the response, this implies that the e-library is not always 

functional when visited and you know this era much knowledge can be obtained in the internet 

through the use of electronic library in the universities. Meanwhile, there is also problem of not 

sufficient library materials which had (28%). This implies that most of the materials are obsolete 

and really need to be replace by the authority so as to improve learning and the lowest 

percentage shows difficulty in locating items in the library collection, this implies that either 

there is no adequate knowledge on the part of the users to locate items or there is incomplete 

records in the library, or users were not fully oriented on the use of the library resources. 

 

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

Information seeking behavior could be described as the way and manner students and researchers 

search for and utilize information. It could also be viewed as a process of conscious effort to seek 

and acquire information in response to a gap in knowledge. However, information is an integral 

part of human lives in any field of human endeavor such as social, economy, politics, culture and 

education. According to Uwa & Ossai-onah (2013) information seeking behavior also involves 

set of actions in expressing information needs, evaluating and selecting information and use the 

information to satisfy the individual’s needs. Information seeking is valuable in the life of the 

students as it enables students to do research and meet their learning needs. Therefore it is crucial 

to examine information seeking behaviour of students with a view to guide them to improve and 

enhance their information seeking skills.  

The findings of the study reveals that postgraduate students seek information to prepare 

well for the purpose of exams, in order to have good grades in their examination, prepare for 

dissertation/thesis work, seek information for personal or career development, seek general 

information which made them to visit library. However, these activities are not carried out 

without obstacles such as non-functional e-library, non-availability of sufficient library materials, 

poor electricity supply, unfriendly library staff and difficulty in locating items in the library. 

Based on the findings we conclude that postgraduate students do engage in information seeking 

behaviour for various reasons to improve learning and knowledge but their information seeking 

behaviour was hinder by some factors militating against effective utilization, hence, the result is 



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consistent with the position of Ismaila (2019) where he found that postgraduate students as 

respondents  information behaviour seeking are mostly for their academic and research purposes 

and then followed by employment and job related information, and that of Wilson (2000) and 

Islam, and Salma (2016) who posited that information seeking behaviour is carried out for 

personal reasons. 

In view of the findings and the conclusion this study recommends that there is need for 

the management to improve service delivery in the aspect of electronic library, researchers 

should be guided easily and educated on the use of library catalogue so as to facilitate easy 

collection of library materials, continuous training and retraining of library staff should be given 

attention in order for them to be friendly and give quality service to information seekers and 

finally problem of poor electricity supply should be addressed to make the environment always 

conducive for learning. 

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journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative 

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