International Journal of Information Science and Management

Vol 7, No 1, ISSN 1726-8125, 2009

Online Search Skills of Shiraz University Post Graduate Students: A Survey

J. Mehrad, Ph.D. , President of Regional Information Center for Science and Technology, I. R. of Iran , email: dean@srlst.com

F. Rahimi, M.A. , Regional Information Center for Science and Technology Corresponding Author: foroogh7@gmail.com

Abstract

This survey attempted to measure online search skills amongst post graduate students of Shiraz University. Having examined the literature on online search skills, seven most frequently used and applicable online search skills were selected for this study. The two broad objectives were to measure the mean score of each skill and also the difference between students of different post graduate levels with regard to the application of online search skills. The data were collected by a questionnaire. Descriptive and referential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that there were not any significant differences between the M.A. and the Ph.D. students in the seven search skills examined. The within-group analysis revealed, however, a significant difference amongst these seven skills such that the 'time limitation' skill had the highest score but the 'proximity' skill was in the lowest level. Other findings showed that there was a significant correlation between the real skills' scores as well as the self report scores of the participants. Also, more than 84% of the students declared that their familiarity with these skills had helped them retrieve information in the least amount of time.

Keywords : Online Search, Search Skills, Graduate Students, Shiraz University.