Are faculty members capable of finding the needed information? A study of selected universities of Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

We all need information and there is so much of it available in both physical and digital media. However, to find the needed information, capability of searching; knowledge of retrieval tools like catalogue; knowledge of Boolean operators, wildcards and truncations; and knowledge to different sources of information like bibliography, encyclopaedia, journals, etc. are equally important. The current study set out to investigate the faculty members’ searching capabilities in four of Jammu & Kashmir's top institutions. The study used questionnaire as a tool to gather data from randomly identified population. After applying appropriate statistical techniques, the study revealed that the faculty members are not able to cross the half mark of correct answering for some basic questions posed to them. Eventually, the study suggests to conduct user awareness programmes since these programmes are significantly associated with the correct responses given by the faculty members in the universities studied.