A Study of Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Residential Students of the University of Madras, Chennai

The purpose of this study was to prospect the information-seeking behaviour of residential students at the University of Madras. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of 52 residential students from various disciplines across the University of Madras's four teaching campuses who are staying in university hostels. The study aimed to explore the information sources and services students use, regardless of form or format; the frequency of information seeking; the barriers they have encountered; and the factors that influence their information-seeking behaviour. The survey also examined students’ perceptions of the University's information resources and their level of satisfaction with the resources currently available. The study found that the most commonly used information sources were the internet, books, reference sources, and databases. The study provides insights into the information needs, strengths, and subsystems of the internal library system at various levels, as well as its relative invisibility to residential students at the University of Madras.