Type of Presentation
Panel (1 hour and 15 minutes presentation total for two or more presenters)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 218
Proposal
Glen Phillips, Georgia Military College As the information age matures, the generation of students currently in college will need excellent skills in information literacy in order to find meaningful employment. This exploratory study focuses on the information literacy needs of academically under-prepared, college students in a small, rural community college in the Southeastern United States. Students were interviewed to learn more about their research habits and their approaches to seeking information related to academic assignments. The researcher explores similarities and differences in the information-seeking behaviors of students in a community college environment with studies of academically better prepared students at four-year institutions. The results suggest ways in which information literacy training can be improved for academically under-prepared students and identifies needed research on this population.
Short Description
How do underprepared community college students find information? Are their information seeking behaviors different from students at four-year institutions? The findings of this ethnographic study may or may not surprise you; but you will have a better insight into today’s community college student and their relationship with libraries.
Keywords
Information literacy, Information seeking behaviors, Community college students, Research skills
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Phillips, Glen, "Information Seeking Behaviors of Academically Under-Prepared Community College Students: An Exploratory Study" (2009). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 16.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2009/2009/16
Information Seeking Behaviors of Academically Under-Prepared Community College Students: An Exploratory Study
Room 218
Glen Phillips, Georgia Military College As the information age matures, the generation of students currently in college will need excellent skills in information literacy in order to find meaningful employment. This exploratory study focuses on the information literacy needs of academically under-prepared, college students in a small, rural community college in the Southeastern United States. Students were interviewed to learn more about their research habits and their approaches to seeking information related to academic assignments. The researcher explores similarities and differences in the information-seeking behaviors of students in a community college environment with studies of academically better prepared students at four-year institutions. The results suggest ways in which information literacy training can be improved for academically under-prepared students and identifies needed research on this population.
