Students’ path to the scientific article : a study of nursing students’ information seeking.

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to increased knowledge concerning students’ information seeking in an electronic environment. Using a qualitative approach; focus groups interviews, a total of nine nursing students were interviewed in two groups. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with an analysis tool based upon Lucy Kuntz’s, Gary Marchionini’s and Carol C Kuhlthau’s models of the information seeking process. The analysis tool also takes into consideration the six factors Marchionini believes influence the individual in the process and directly affect it. The results show that the students’ information seeking is characterized by uncertainty and to some extent ignorance. Difficulties may arise throughout the process, beginning with the initial phrasing of the search query, even unto the retrieval of the information. The information seeking is influenced by the fact that the students’ almost exclusively use material they can access in full text directly. Furthermore the students do not readily search numerous databases. The search patterns within the subject itself and the teachers’ attitudes towards information seeking have a major impact on the students’ search behaviour. An important mission for the libraries in this context is to offer students adequate education on how to search for information. In order to achieve this, an extended and improved collaboration between libraries and teachers is necessary