Study of Online Electronic Information search skills among Ph.D. Students at Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran

Abstract

Analyzing 60 questionnaires collected, it was determined that the preliminary web and search tool skills of students studied were lesser than average (37.5%). Most of the members of the population studied, generally considered themselves as being “veterans”, i.e. a person that is successful in finding the needed information but who most of the time needs assistance. Students were most familiar with Google and Yahoo search engines, and with Elsevier specialized database. Search Engines and Database usage were also investigated. The average employment of the Boolean operators was 34.7%, with “+” operator having the highest and “-“ operator having the least usage. Google advanced search and Elsevier database were most frequently used.

Keywords

• Search Skills
• Search Engines
• Google
• Yahoo
• Graduate