INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOR OF WOMEN IN PURDAH, AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN FACULTY OF EDUCATION

 

APPENDIX I………………………………………………………………………..………………41

 

The assessment of information seeking behaviour by undergraduate student is vital in supporting them to access and use information resources to meet their required information needs. According to Ajiboye and Tella (2007), information is data that has been processed to be well understood to satisfy the user’s query. They go further in their definition to say that ‘information is data value in planning, decision making and evaluation of any programme. KOC University Library Glossary (2014) see information as data presented in readily comprehensible form, to which meaning has been attributed within a context for its use. In a more dynamic sense, the message is conveyed by the use of a medium of communication or expression. Bruce (2005) states that, "information plays a significant role in our daily professional and personal lives and we are constantly challenged to take charge of the information that we need for work, fun and everyday decisions and tasks.

Wilson (2000) posited that information needs are influenced by a variety of factors such as the range of information sources available, the uses to which the information will be put, the background, motivation, professional orientation and individual characteristics of the user. While other factors according to Oshiname (2009), are the socio-political, economic, legal and regulatory. There must be a need that would prompt an individual to engage in information seeking. Information Need is an innate desire that prompt an individual leading to a search for information.

Purdah exists as a viable institution among the Muslims population as we have in other parts of the world. As a consequence of purdah system, a woman is allowed to see only her biological sons, brothers, uncle and husband, or any other relation in position of trust. She cannot even go to mosque to pray, and must wear veil if she must go outside the house. This practice is more popular among the Northern Nigerian, because they are predominantly Muslim. Literarily, purdah means curtain or veil and refers to carious modes of shielding women from other sight. It can also refer to the veiling or covering of the entire body. According to (Naim 2004), purdah is a practice of the seclusion of women inside their homes. In this sense, seclusion means restrictions on women’s movement outside the home.However, part II of the Nigerian Constitution guarantee education for all citizens without barrier coupled with international instrument which Nigeria are signatory to and has adopted. The UNESCO declaration Education for All (EFA) by the year 2015.Also going by the result of 2005 population census conducted in Nigeria indicating more women in the Northern part of Nigeria than other parts, this translate that we are having more married women in the North than other parts, hence possibility of having an army of uneducated women in purdah in the Northern part of Nigeria lacking access to functional education which is a violation of many of both the international treaties (UNESCO, African Charter on Human and People Rights), and part II of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

Undergraduates have a lot of information needs which prompted their demand for information. When undergraduates are searching for information to meet their needs, they use different sources of information. Chinedu (2009) defines information sources as the materials or means through which information can be found to meet a particular need. Case (2002) defines information seeking as a conscious effort to acquire information in response to a need or gap in your knowledge. Information seeking behaviour is a key concept in Library and information science profession. Bruce (2005) defined information behaviour as the study of how people need, seek, give and use information in different contexts, including the workplace and everyday living. According to Bukenya (2004), information seeking behaviour is the way people go about searching for information. They also observed that students’ information seeking behaviour involves purposeful information seeking as a result of the need to complete course assignments, prepare for class discussions, seminars, workshops, and write final-year research papers. Information seeking behaviour is expressed in various forms, from reading printed material to research and experimentation (Bhatti, 2008).Information-seeking behaviour remains a key research area; academic librarians around the world strive to understand the information needs of undergraduate students and ways of satisfy these needs. Ossai-onah (2013) posit that though there seems to exist many reasons and sources of information to the information user, the university library occupies a central position in the information seeking process of undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. Undergraduate students’ information seeking behavior was considered the biggest problem to be investigated. Most undergraduate students find it difficult to locate the right sources of information to meet their needs and without adequate information succeeding academically would be a great challenge.This study is therefore aimed at determining information seeking behavior of women in purdah amongundergraduate’sstudents with a view to improving their academic performance.

This study examined the information seeking behaviour of women in purdah among undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. A lot of studies have been conducted on the information seeking behaviour of undergraduate students. The study by Barakutty and Salih (1999) cited by Owolabi (2007) at Calicut University, India, shows that the students used the Internet as the major source of information for their academic development. Kigongo (2004) in their study observed that most students concentrate on using particular materials recommended by either their lecturers or colleagues who have used them before, rather than searching to find the most appropriate document to use. Ajiboye and Tella (2007) maintain that the way students organize their learning and search for information is crucial to their overall performance. Wilberley and Jones (2000) asserted that, though undergraduate students in the humanities do turn more frequently to librarians, they do so with some reluctance. 

According to the findings of Kim(2013), almost all participants (98.6%) reported using Wikipedia as an information source, while (95.7%) of the participants reported that Face book is an important source of information to them. These researchers agreed that social media is an important source of information for undergraduate students. Mabawonku (2005) highlights ways in which students can seek for information, which include colleagues, the Internet, library, friends, family members, recognized institutions, agencies, and private organizations. Mann (2003) posited that most researchers, even with computers, find only a fraction of the sources available to them. He explained that undergraduates tend to work within one or another mental framework that limits their basic perception of the universe of knowledge available to them. Students according to him use a subject-disciplinary method that leads them to a specific list of sources on a particular subject. He points out that while this method allows students and researchers to find more specific sources, it is limiting in that they may not realize that work of interest to their own subject appears within the literature of many other disciplines.

He also observed that users want ‘good enough’ sources, not necessarily the best sources available. The evaluation of ‘good enough’ is based on a number of factors, the most important being ease of access and availability of full-text sources. The sources chosen follow the principle of Least Effort; they tend to choose perceived ease of access over quality of content in selecting an information source or channel. Ajiboye and Tella (2007) find out from their research on university undergraduates that 12 percent of the students required information for their personal development, while 11.25 percent claimed that they sought information on health matter, and 64.1 percent sought for information for their academic development, 9.3 percent to secure employment. Baro and Fynman (2009) in their study pointed out factors such as: information illiteracy among library users; absence of computer systems with Internet connectivity in the university libraries; poorly conducted user education programmes; reliance on manual information retrieval tools which leads to poor filing and slow retrieval; and limited sensitization of the library information resources and services as factors that hinder the effective utilization of library resources and services. 

This makes it difficult for undergraduate students to meet their information needs. Zondi (2002) in her study established that a majority of students show a very low level of competence in the use of a library and display poor information seeking patterns. It could be assumed that students could be experiencing technical problems in accessing information resources; being card catalogues, the library catalogues do not provide adequate access to the libraries’ collections; or students are information illiterate and lack the required library literacy skills. Mellon (2006) concluded in his study that undergraduates encounter technical problems trying to locate materials from university libraries. Beyond the problem of facilities is the inability of students to use different search strategies to source information and how to source the academic information needed for them to excel. Meyers (2006), found out thta information barriers transcend access to information to constraining forces which affects the information search of students. Hartmann (2001) concluded in his study that undergraduate students experienced difficulty in locating items from the library collection and do not understand the processes for retrieving journal articles. According to the study of Kakai, Ikoja Odongo and Bukenya (2004), undergraduates face the following barriers in their access to information; limited borrowing of the most relevant books in the closed access section; insufficient copies of the relevant information materials (books); out–dated (old) information materials dominating the stock; poorly conducting user education; reliance on manual information retrieval tools which lead to poor filing and slow retrieval; and, limited sensitization of the library information resources and services.

For the purpose of this research the following questions have been formulated: 

Studying the Information seeking behaviour of undergraduate students will enable libraries and  academic  librarian  deliver  standard  services  which  will  improve  the  academic performance  of  their  students.  This study sought to establish ways of improving the information–seeking behaviour of students. To attain this goal, the study stipulated the following objectives: 

Ho1: There is no relationship between information seeking behavior among under graduate students and women in purdah.

Ho2: There are no significant differencesin information seeking behavior of undergraduate’s students and women in purdah.

Ho3: There is no significant difference information seeking behavior of undergraduate women in purdah and undergraduate women without purdah.

This study will educate women in purdah of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (especially those at faculty of education) on how information seeking behavior will be improved.

The findings of this study will generates peoples interest in researching into other areas of information seeking behavior of women in purdah among undergraduates students.

Finally, the study hopes to enrich peoples knowledge in this area of organizational behavior and women in purdah in the society.

This study is on the impact of information seeking behavior of women in purdah among undergraduate students in faculty of education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The study will also covers the various techniques of Information seeking behaviours and theories of women in purdah in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. 

The following terms were defined as used in this study:

Information Seeking:Ikoja-Odongo and Ocholla (2004) described information seeking as a process that requires an information seekers, or what might be called ‘’personal information structures’ ‘such as a person’s cognitive abilities, his or her knowledge, skills in relation to the problem or task domain, knowledge and skills specific to a system and knowledge and skills regarding information seeking. 

Information Seeking Behaviour: This can be described as an individual’s way and manner of gathering and sourcing for information for personal use, knowledge updating and development. Faire (2004) referred to it as the way people search for and utilize information. information seeking behaviour involves active or purposeful information as a result of the need to complete course assignment, prepare for class discussions seminars, workshops, conferences, or write final year research papers. Many problems may serve as hindrances for the undergraduates in the process of their search or using the library. These may include library anxiety as asserted by (Mellon, 1986) and users’ perceptions of library and its program.

Pardah or purdah (from Persian: پرده‎, meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that women cover their bodies so as to cover their skin and conceal their form. A woman who practices purdah can be referred to as pardanashin or purdahnishan. The term purdah is sometimes applied to similar practices in other parts of the world. 

Practices that restricted women's mobility and behavior existed in India since ancient times and intensified with the arrival of Islam. By the 19th century purdah became customary among Hindu elites. Purdah was not traditionally observed by lower-class women.

Physical segregation within buildings is achieved with judicious use of walls, curtains, and screens. A woman's withdrawal into purdah usually restricts her personal, social and economic activities outside her home. The usual purdah garment worn is a burqa, which may or may not include a yashmak, a veil to conceal the face. The eyes may or may not be exposed. 

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