Print or eFormat: preferences and factors that influence undergraduate student behavior

With my project I plan to conduct research into the information-seeking behaviors and methods of undergraduate students to determine what preferences they have concerning the format of required academic readings and research materials, and what factors influence this behavior. This research will be conducted by means of a review of the literature by scholars in the field of information-seeking behaviors, user studies in academic libraries, and what these scholars have found to be true about undergraduate students’ information-seeking and preference behaviors when reading course-related materials and conducting research for those courses. The aspect of what factors influence information-seeking behavior provides librarians insight into the mindset of undergraduate students as a group, as opposed to preferences of an individual within the subset. Having an understanding of how undergraduate students seek information they require for their courses and in which format they prefer to have it available to them enables librarians and the field of library and information science to stay viable and fulfil one of its key missions; the key mission being to provide an environment that guides and assists undergraduate students to learn the materials and concepts taught in the students’ academic courses and chosen field of study. By understanding all of the aspects mentioned above, the conclusion that I have come to is that what undergraduates are seeking (types of information) and why they are seeking that information (for what purpose have they sought out this information) are intertwined and play a predominant role in how undergraduates seek information.