Information Needs and Uses in Education
Keywords:
information science, educational informationAbstract
This paper investigates the relationship between education position and (1) purposes in seeking information, and (2) sources of information used. As part of a larger study, a questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of public school educators in British Columbia, and respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they sought information for 15 different purposes and their preference for 13 information sources. With respondents stratified into four position groups (Elementary and Secondary Principals and District Administrators, n = 173; Secondary Support Personnel and District Support Personnel, n = 265; Secondary Teachers and Department Heads, n = 292; and, Elementary Teachers and Elementary Support Personnel, n = 304), analysis of variance and Scheffé post hoc comparisons revealed highly significant differences among the four groups in purposes for seeking information and expressed preference for information sources. The findings support the notion that characteristics of user groups, including work role, will affect their information seeking and use behaviour and that such characteristics should be given greater consideration in developing delivery systems and designing information products and services. Limitations of the study are discussed and practical and theoretical implications presented within the context of Canadian, American, and British user research in the field of information science.
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