Relational analysis of information seeking behavior among students and faculty members in selective departments at University of Kashmir

In the present society, information acts as a key component where almost each and everything is dependent on information. Therefore, the need arises to get acquainted with one's own information requirement, identify the sources for obtaining required information and utilize it in proper means are must. Thus, Information seeking behavior (ISB) is the natural and necessary mechanism of human existence. It can be considered as the pattern of various Students, Faculty Members etc. in collecting information according to their need(s). Although access to information is one of the important factor(s) in obtaining progress. The present study is an attempt to investigate the information seeking patterns and the approach of Students and Faculty Members present in selected departments at University of Kashmir (U.O.K). In order to elicit response questionnaire is used as a data collection tool to find out the importance of various information sources which cater their needs and analyze the impact of information technology on their ISB. The results of the study revealed that the highest 47% of Faculty Members prefer to make use of WWW (World Wide Web) as the source of Information. Despite this, 37% of Students prefer to make use of both (www as well as library). The study also shows that students are more aware than Faculty Members about citation databases. But both (students and Faculty Members) are making use of Google Scholar at the highest level to enrich their knowledge. Besides this, respondents (students, Faculty Members) prefer both (electronic, print) formats to acquire information.