Information Needs and Information-Seeking Behavior of Arts and Humanities Teachers: A Survey of the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

This study explores the information needs and information-seeking behavior of humanities faculty members of the University of the Punjab, Lahore . It investigates the methods and sources used to acquire information, the importance of various information resources for their teaching and research activities, their preferred formats, the purpose of their information-seeking and problems faced. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to get a response from the targeted population which consisted of 90 teaching and research staff of humanities departments. The response rate was 69 percent. The study reveals that most of the humanities faculty members rely heavily upon books and experts in their subject fields for teaching and research activities. Print was the preferred format and m eeting personally for face-to-face discussions was the most frequently used channel of communication. The lack of availability of required material was the number one problem in information-seeking process. The findings of this study will be useful for library professionals to understand the information needs and information-seeking behavior of humanists