Measuring Levels of Students' Anxiety in Information Seeking Tasks

Abstract

This study measured information seeking anxiety among postgraduate students of the University of the Punjab, Lahore. Survey method using questionnaire was employed to conduct this investigation. The questionnaire consisting of an Information Seeking Anxiety Scale and demographic variables was administered in students, selected through convenient sampling procedure, for data collection. The results indicated that a large majority (n=207, 82.4%) of the respondents experienced more than low anxiety in the information seeking process. No significant relationship was found between age, gender, faculty and information seeing anxiety scores of these students. Conversely, there were significant differences in anxiety scores of students based on the program of study, stage of study, and computer proficiency. The results provide useful insights for guidance of information professionals dealing with reference and research services, especially those engaged in designing information literacy curricula and managing information literacy instructions.

Keywords

• information seeking anxiety
• information behaviour
• information literacy
• postgraduate students
• pakistan