Current Trends in Students’ Database Usage: A Case Study

Abstract

Objective – The purpose of this study was to investigate current trends in electronic database use at Ariel University in Israel. The study started from the premise that students should academic databases in order to accomplish academic tasks, since the Internet cannot supply all of their information needs. Variables such as language, gender, the discipline being studied, the effectiveness of library instruction, and the encouragement of lecturers were taken into account during the study. Research methods – The study was administered using a structured questionnaire that was completed by 637 students. Results - The majority of students chose to use the Internet, whereas only 28% used electronic databases. A few variables were found to be significant when using an academic database. English language knowledge, library instruction, teachers' encouragement, gender and faculty. Findings show that women use databases more frequently than men, and tend to request the assistance of the librarians more frequently Difference was found between faculties. Students from social sciences prefer Hebrew databases, whereas those studying natural sciences prefer English databases. Conclusions – Several conclusions can be drawn from this study on how to improve database use: 1) library instruction must be improved, 2) lecturers should emphasize the importance of database searching, and 3) the study of English as a foreign language should be improved, because it has a direct impact on the information-seeking behavior of students. The innovations in this study are 1) the discovery of greater database use on the part of women than on the part of men and 2) the librarian's central role in the instruction and promotion of database use.