Investigating Collaborative Information Seeking Behavior of Postgraduate Students of Shiraz University

The level of desired and objective experiences of students during the collaborative information seeking is explored.

The statistical population in this survey research included all graduate students of Shiraz University in 2020. The sample consisted of 302 students from different faculties, selected according to the Morgan table. Data gatherin too was a researcher-made questionnaire designed by reviewing the literature and  extracting relevant items. extracted.  To assess the face and the content validity of the questionnaire.  The draft of the questionnaire was sent to seven LIS experts, and finalized according to their recommendations. The reliability of the instrument attained Cronbach's alpha coefficient with a value of 0.91.

The sample t-test and comparison of means showed that the average of collaborative information seeking behavior in the study is more than the expected average (70%). So it can be said that the tendency of postgraduate students towards collaborative information seeking is high. Also, the results on the subjects' experiences showed that there was no significant difference between the observed and expected frequencies "experience of searching information on the web separately and then discussing with a group about the results" and "Experience searching the web separately with a separate computer or mobile phone". This means that students who had group web search experience (71.2%) as well as students with collaborative information seeking experience in homework and projects (74.2%) were more than those without such experience. Also, the number of students whose group work lasted between one week to one month (35.4%) and students who needed different sources of information (82.8) was higher. On the other hand, significantly more students experience searching the web as a group in a common place, in different places, communicating through online chat or telephone conversation. Those communicate with a shared computer or mobile phone and use collaborative information software less than those who had never experienced this type of search.

The results showed that the tendency for collaborative information seeking is high. Paying attention to this segment of the scientific community can lead to more knowledge of collaborative information seeking experience. Also, recognizing the tendency of this group to participate in collaborative information seeking behavior can help the policy makers of the higher education system to plan, considering solving possible problems such as little use of students 'collaborative search tools and the existence of the necessary platforms for students' collaborative work in educational and research center and strengthen these behaviors.