Information literacy at work: A study on information management behaviour of Kuwaiti engineers

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the information behaviour of Kuwaiti engineers with a focus on information sources and finding information from these sources, management of information found and re-finding of information from personal collections.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey method of research was used to conduct the study. Data were collected using online questionnaire and interviews with a selected number of participants.

Findings

Results indicated that engineers collected and received information from a variety of sources. They saved selected information for future use in folders and structured them by using work-related categories. Use of information management tools was not common. A majority of participants expressed the need for training courses in information literacy. They felt that lack of institutional support to facilitate access to information was considered a major difficulty in information seeking.

Originality/value

No similar study could be found in the literature, as earlier studies either investigated personal information management practices or information seeking behaviour. This study looked at information literacy in a wider context.

Citation

Chaudhry, A.S. and Al-Mahmud, S. (2015), "Information literacy at work: A study on information management behaviour of Kuwaiti engineers", The Electronic Library, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 760-772. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-04-2014-0063