Information-Seeking Behaviors of Business Faculty

The role of academic libraries in research and teaching

The perceptions of faculty members from the faculties of social sciences and humanities regarding the role of the library in assisting with their research and teaching needs are compared with those of academic librarians. This research was designed as a comprehensive, mixed-methods study. First, interviews were conducted with faculty members and librarians; then, based on the findings, a questionnaire was constructed and distributed to faculty members and librarians in these departments. The main finding is that the contribution of library services to the various aspects of teaching and research is perceived as higher by the librarians than by the faculty members. Faculty members appear to expect more from the library in various aspects of research support; however, most faculty members believe that the library fulfils their teaching needs. Regarding research, faculty members believe most libraries support the technical aspects, but they do not support other aspects, such as locating the information or providing more comprehensive information relevant for the faculty members’ research. Therefore it is important to compare and resolve the differences between faculty and librarians’ perceptions. The findings of this study indicate that the perception in libraries needs to change, and some of these changes should be made already in the preparatory stages of the profession.

Information behaviors of elite scholars in the context of academic practice

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the information behaviors in which scholars regularly engage, in participants’ own words wherever possible, and discuss how those behaviors function in the broader landscape of scholars’ academic practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Scholars’ information behaviors were investigated using semi-structured interviews, along with document analysis. Three scholars recognized for significant contributions to their fields were identified from each of the three major divisions of academia (humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences) using intensity sampling, for a total of nine participants. Interviews asked each participant to describe a recent research project from conceptualization to completion, focusing on how scholars engaged with ideas, information resources, tools, and processes.

Findings

Information behaviors were found to permeate scholars’ work from conceptualization through publication, and included behaviors such as skimming, reading, data collection and analysis, and writing. Of particular interest are the specific information behaviors that fall into the broader category of information use.

Originality/value

This study uses established definitions of information behaviors to broaden the information behaviors conversation to include the entirety of academic practice. The study shows how scholars from across the academy engage with information throughout the course of their academic work, not just when they are engaged in more traditional information seeking activities.