Identifying the Experiences of Faculty Members in Protecting of Personal Information Collection

The protection of information means maintaining information and ensuring security for its sustainable use. The purpose of this study was to identify the experiences of the faculty members of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences regarding the protection of their personal information collection.

This research was a qualitative study which was carried out using content analysis method. The data gathering tool was a semi-structured interview. Purposive sampling was done until the data saturation level was reached (n= 21 people).

The faculty members used various tools and locations to maintain and protection their information. The four main areas of their storage were computers, external memories, virtual spaces, and traditional spaces. They also considered four components for protecting information, including: information maintain, information security, information archives and information stability.

The faculty members' experiences on how to protect and preserve their personal information were different, but most of the concern was to get lost information. Some of them lacked knowledge and awareness in the security of information, and needed training in this regard.