Assessing electronic resource searching competency among postgraduate students

Paul Samwel Muneja

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Library Science and Information Literacy Library Science and Information Information Retrieval and Search Behavior

Abstract

Purpose This study evaluated electronic resource searching competency among postgraduate students (PGS). Specifically, the study intended to identify online search strategies used by PGS in searching electronic resources, examine the mechanisms used by PGS to access electronic resources and identify the challenges faced by PGS when searching electronic resources. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was administered to 70 PGS who attended a training workshop on scholarly literature searching. A pre- and post-training assessment was carried out to establish their competence prior to and after the training. Findings The results show that during the preassessment, the majority of respondents indicated Google search and Google Scholar search engines were their primary sources of scholarly literature, and the majority used simple search strategies to locate scholarly literature. The results further show that, before the training, it was revealed that 50.5% of the PGS had never used subscribed databases such as EBSCOhost, Emeralds, Taylor and Francis, Wiley online library and Springer. After the post-training assessment, results indicated an increased level of using new techniques such as Boolean operation, phrase searches, truncations, search limit and subject directories. Access through local IP addresses was highly used compared to other mechanisms such as remote access authentication methods or discovery services. Students’ exposure to new strategies and search tools had significant improvement in searching scholarly literature. Originality/value This paper is the researcher’s original study and it has not been conducted before. The paper represents a true analysis of the search capability of postgraduates in areas of research.

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References

2019Improving university students’ web savvy: An intervention study 2022Search strategy formulation for systematic reviews: Issues, challenges and opportunities 2018Information-seeking behaviour and academic success in higher education: Which search strategies matter for grade differences among university students and how does this relevance differ by field of study?2023Skilled for the Future: Information Literacy for AI Use by University Students in Africa and the Role of Librarians 2023Navigating Generative AI: The Teacher Librarian's Role in Cultivating Ethical and Critical Practices 2016An assessment of information literacy skills among first-year postgraduate students at Sokoine University of Agriculture Tanzania 2019Information Skills of Finnish Basic and SecondaryEducation Students: The Role of Age, Gender, Education Level, Self-efficacyand Technology Usage 2017Factors affecting the information-seeking behaviour of postgraduate students at the University of South Africa Ethiopia Regional Learning Centre

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2025Students’ Expertise in Information Searching Skills: A Survey of Effective Query Reformulation Efficiency Among University Students 2025Scholarly information source access and use by undergraduate students: Lesson from COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania

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