STUDENTS' INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOR IN ONLINE ENVIRONMENT USING WEB 2.0 TOOLS

Progressive technology development, shifting teaching and learning in the online environment and the plethora of information available online have changed students' information seeking behavior. Traditional resources like books or printed materials are not anymore starting points on academic information journey - nowadays students heavily rely on the Internet sources and use that information for their academic tasks like essays, projects, researches and thesis. Information posted on the Internet may not be filtered through professional gatekeepers like printed information that is published, so lack of authority, credibility and reliability indicators is becoming an issue in the digital information used for academic purposes. Application and usefulness of Web 2.0 tools in higher education has been proven in many researches, but further investigation has to be on their potential to assist within the facilitation of student' information seeking process. The main purpose of this study is to provide deeper understanding of students' information seeking behavior on the Internet with special focus on Web 2.0 tools they are using in this challenging process. Web 2.0 tools that will be examined in study are divided into following categories: social bookmarking tools, reference managing tools, presentation sharing tools, research and writing organization tools and information management tools. The following research questions are identified in line with current literature review and the expected research outcomes: (1) Which are the most common starting points (resources) of students' information seeking process in online environment? (2) Which Web 2.0 tools are most often used among students to retrieve, organize, collaborate and share online information resources? (3) What are the essential criteria for evaluating credibility and reliability of online information resources for academic purposes among students? A survey will be conducted on the sample of graduate students of one Middle European university. To answer the proposed research questions, appropriate statistic methods will be used. Expected outcomes of the research are directed to provide an evidence which Web 2.0 tools students find most suitable for overcoming challenges in information seeking process in academia context and whether they are finding their academia-related information on scientific sources. Research findings could be useful guidelines for teachers in tertiary education in developing course materials in order to promote the importance and developing students' information literacy skills through Web 2.0 tools.