International Students’ Information Needs and Seeking Behaviours throughout the Settlement Stages

For international students who need to settle down to new environments, the information they use in their everyday life plays an important role. This study is aimed at understanding international students’ information needs and information-seeking behaviours within their campus and everyday life, throughout the settlement stages. An interview survey, which asked about international students’ information behaviours for critical incidents during three settlement stages, was conducted. At the pre-arrival and settlement stages, most of the international students’ information needs were related to their daily rather than their academic or campus life, and people (relatives/friends) in the United States and the Internet were their main sources of information. As they began to settle down, their information needs and sources of information became diverse; social media use was especially noticeable after they settled down. At the pre-arrival stage, their information needs were broad, and their satisfaction with Internet search experiences was relatively low. However, as they settled down in the United States, their information needs became specific, and they felt more confident with search experiences. In order to support international students’ success in meeting academic goals, it seems that it is necessary to provide them with everyday life information that could help them settle down and adjust to a new country