CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Study

According to Adimorah (2003), information is defined as “element of data that has been processed and has meaning”. While the Webster Dictionary of English, defined information as the act or process of informing, specifically communicating knowledge or intelligence derived from reading, observation or instruction. Thus, there has always been the need for man to ‘need’ and to ‘seek information’, and they have devised different information seeking behaviours to satisfy this need as “an innate desire for useful fact required to take a decision”.

He further stated that need of human vary and should be determined if we are to offer information that will satisfy their seeds. Information needs is understood in information science as stemming from a vague awareness of something missing and as culminating in locating information that contribute to understanding and meaning (Kuhltau, 1993).

Adimorah further sees the concept of need as ‘the product of certain elements of the information use in an environment. These elements are the assumption formally learned or not, made by a defined set of people concerning the nature of their work”. Information need has been the trend of event down to the present age where people need and seek information in all aspects of life for development purpose. It is therefore not surprising that undergraduate students from the department of Library and Information Science, Delta State University, would need information to progress academically and would want to know what their information needs are.

Adetoro (2010) stated that information use refers to the extent to which university undergraduates search for relevant information and effectively make use of them. Information is vital to improve the performance of students (Oladele, 2006). Information also open windows of sharing experience, best practices, sources of intellectual wealth; it becomes imperative that information be provided for undergraduates (Ugboma, 2010) this is because information is the driving and sustaining force behind any development strategy. For undergraduates, they will need information for educational activities, research activities, professional activities, recreation activities, cultural activities, and for personal development (Uwaifo, 2004).

Many previous studies like information needs of law students in Delta State University by Ambrose (2005), the information needs of students in Delta State University Secondary School by Ajiri (2008), all agree that the problems of undergraduate students is access to information and that even with the advent of information technologies that has eliminated the bottlenecks to information dissemination, constraints to access of information is still in real experience by undergraduates (Oladele, 2006).

The focus of this study shall therefore, be to ascertain the information needs of undergraduate students of Library and Information Science Department, Delta State University, Abraka Campus.

1.2  Statement of the Problem

Undergraduate students in tertiary institutions and indeed the world at large are expected to maximally utilize the university library as one of their major sources of information. However, noting from observation and from the study conducted by Kakai et al (2010) on library use in Makerere University, it was established that students do not use most of the library information resources. It was stressed that students could be experiencing technical problems in identifying their information and in accessing the required information resources; coupled with lack of knowledge and awareness of the resources. The students poor — information use and seeking behaviour are singled out as one of the biggest cause that needed investigation.

1. 1.3Research Questions
2. To address the identified problem, the following research questions were formulated:
3. What is the predominant information required by students?
4. What are the major sources of obtaining academic information in the university?
5. Which are the predominant sources consulted by the students? Will students’ course of study and level of study have any influence on their information seeking behaviour?
6. Do students’ get all the information required from the identified sources?
7. What factors militate against the access of information needs by undergraduates?
8. 1.4Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this is to establish the information needs, sources, and the information searching strategies of undergraduate students. To attain that goal, the study stipulated the following objectives.

1. To establish the undergraduate students’ information needs.
2. To determine the undergraduate students’ information seeking behaviour.
3. To establish the problems that undergraduate students encounter in information seeking; and
4. To suggest strategies of improving undergraduate students’ information — seeking behaviour.
5. 1.5Significance of the Study

This study would of relevance to students of library and information science department in tertiary institutions. It would be useful to academics of information science, and will serve as a guide to the management of tertiary institutions in setting up library and information centres. The study will also be of relevance to researchers, as it has opened a new ground for further research.

1.6  Scope of the Study

The focus of this study is to investigate the information needs of undergraduate students in Library and Information Science Department, Delta State University.

1. 1.6Delimitation of the Study

This study is delimited to the Department of Library and Information Science students in Delta State University, Abraka.

1. 1.7Operational Definition of Terms

Information: It is the outcome of a processed data.

Needs: It refers to what a person wants to satisfy himself with Undergraduate: A university or college student who is studying for their first degree.