Information Seeking Behavior for Conducting Research of Nakhon Ratchasima College Lecturers

Abstract

This study is a qualitative research with the information seeking behaviors and the barriers to seeking information for Conducting Research of Nakhonratchasima College Lecturers. The primary informants were lecturers from Nakhonratchasima College who were conducted research in the fields of study offered between the academic years 2018 – 2022. The data was analyzed using inductive analysis.

The findings research revealed that 1) the information-seeking behaviors of lecturers for research consisted of 8 activities: (1) Starting: from likes and interests, abilities and prior knowledge, problems encountered, personal stories and advice, and the use of artificial intelligence; (2) Chaining: from reference lists, keywords, and websites; (3) Browsing: from institutional sources, internet sources, bookstores or book centers; (4) Differentiating: based on Modernity, reliability, and relevance; (5) Monitoring: from websites, social media, attending training seminars, and printed media; (6) Extracting: from consistent, with relevant, and pertinent information, and methods of using information including downloading, copying documents, and printing documents; (7) Verification: by comparison and verification by experts; and (8) Ending: when obtained data fully answer the research question or issue, the research report or research project is completed, and the research has been published. lecturers will collect data in an organized manner, categorizing it by research topic or issue, and storing the information in a digital file. For the second objective it was found that barriers to information-seeking included: personal obstacles, the most common personal obstacles concerned language, information retrieval skills, bibliographic management skills, time, health, and the environment.