Exploring the Information-seeking Behaviour of Students at the Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria, who Use Mobile Technologies to Access Information
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-659X/12697Keywords:
Mobile technologies, mobile devices, information communication technologies, information-seeking behaviourAbstract
The advent and development of ICTs brought about changes that influence users’ information-seeking by using mobile devices. This article contains a report from a doctoral thesis on a qualitative phenomenological study that explored the use of mobile devices by undergraduate students at the Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria, to seek academic-related information. A semi-structured interview schedule was employed to collect data from 21 students from years 2, 3 and 4. Owing to certain features of mobile devices, the findings suggested that mobile devices influenced the students’ information-seeking behaviour. The features that influenced the use of mobile technologies for information-seeking purposes included affordability, ease of use, portability, and convenience. However, features such as screen size and unstable networks negatively affected the use of mobile devices for information-seeking purposes. In turn, some user-related characteristics, such as a lack of information literacy skills and a lack of knowledge on how to use mobile technologies, seemed to affect the students’ willingness to use mobile technologies for information-seeking purposes.
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References
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Accepted 2023-11-28
Published 2023-12-20
