Information Needs as a Correlate of the Study Behaviour of University Undergraduates in Southwest Nigeria and the Conceptualisation of Study in the Digital Age

The study investigated the extent to which information needs influence the study behaviour of Library and Information Science undergraduates of the University of Ibadan and Tai Solarin University of Education. Survey research design of the correlational type was adopted. The total population summed up to 1,368. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to determine the sample size. In the first stage, purposive sampling technique was adopted to select the two universities while the second stage involved the stratification of the students based on their level of study. A random selection of a sample of 20% of the students was made thereafter. This gave a sample size of 274. It was found that the students needed information to write research project, prepare for examination and test, for course work and assignment, to enhance their lecture notes, derive information for health and wellness, leisure and general awareness. Furthermore, the students were found to study majorly between 1-2 hours daily and made use of lecturers’ handouts, lecture notes and textbooks as resources during study. Majority of them were found to use personal timetable to guide their study. A positive relationship was found between the students’ information needs and their study behaviour, but the effect of information needs on the study behaviour of the students was not significant. Consequently, it was recommended that governments should provide adequate funds in order to enable the procurement of high quality, current and adequate information sources that will meet the students’ information needs. It was also advised that they should be provided with reliable and sustainable ICT infrastructure and empowered to develop their ICT skills to enhance their use of online and electronic resources while studying, and with that improve electronic learning practices; as study could no longer be conceived as reading and assimilating information in prints only. It was further suggested that all distractions to study should be checked, especially, the use of mobile phones, except the said phones are being used for teaching and learning purposes during lecture and study hours.