Uses and perceptions of the World Wide Web in an information-seeking environment

Abstract

A number of models are reported in the literature which can be used to identify the ways in which the World Wide Web can be used as part of the student learning process. This article reports the results of a study to examine how undergraduate students view their information acquisition in terms of the open resource model, where the Web is accessed to retrieve information from diverse sources which may, or may not, be educationally-based. This model was chosen as being the closest in concept to the function of the library. A series of interviews, with open-ended questions, were conducted with 12 students who were all from one university. The students were encouraged to talk freely about their own feelings and conceptions concerning the World Wide Web. Analysis revealed five recurring themes: responses to the information-seeking context; expressed relationships to the process of information retrieval; information seeking strategies; perceptions of information quality; and attitudes to the future of the Web in higher education. Each of these themes is reported in detail and it is concluded that a key factor in students’ use of the Web as an information resource is time, in the sense of obtaining information quickly and easily, not experiencing difficulties in locating the required information, and avoiding inherent delays in the computer systems.