Information Seeking Behaviour of Users at Usilampatti Public Library, Tamilnadu, India: A Case Study

摘要

Public libraries are the standing testimonies of democracies. They are the social transformers and cultural saviours. They are the storehouses of intellectual heredity of our forefathers. They are the lighthouses fostering creative leisure activities. This study was conducted with the help of structured questionnaires to analyze the information seeking behavior randomly selected 50 users at Usilampatty Public Library, Usilampattty, Tamilnadu in 2013. The data was entered and analyzed in MS Excel using simple average and percentage methods and presented using various chart options available therein. The major findings of the study are : A majority of respondents use the branch library at Usilampatti for preparing themselves for various competitive exams; 30 % respondents use the library once a week; Majority of users visit the library to read newspapers and reference books; While 12 respondents (24%) have time constraints in using the resources, 11 respondents (22%) opined that lack of adequate library staff is their major problem.26 respondents (52%) search for materials subject wise and 12 respondents (24%) search for materials title-wise; 37 respondents (74%) opine that the quality of internet service offered by the library is good; 32 respondents (64%) are highly satisfied with the information they access from magazines and journals; 24 respondents (48%) rated the quality of overall library services as very good.