Information-seeking behaviour of nurse teachers in a school of health studies: a soft systems analysis

Aim. This paper reports a small-scale study, undertaken as part of a higher degree, which aims to explore the information-seeking behaviour of a group of lecturers, based on one site, delivering a nursing and midwifery curriculum in the School of Health Studies of a higher education institution. Methodology. Checkland’s [System thinking, System practice, Wiley, Chichester, 1981] soft systems methodology (SSM) was used as a theoretical model both to derive deeper insights into the survey data and suggest enhancements to this aspect of teacher activity. To obtain statistical data a survey design was employed, research methods including postal questionnaires complemented by selected interviews and a small amount of informal observation. Results. Findings showed that, in order to access information, lecturers were most likely to access the School libraries, the Internet, advice from colleagues and their personal collections. Refereed journals were the top-ranked information resource with professional studies and research cited as the most sought after topics. Lecturers mentioned the role of library staff as integral to the information-seeking process. Main problems included their variable literature searching skills and time pressures. The methodology identified several features related to the information-seeking behaviour of lecturers that has resulted in an improved training programme for lecturers and prompted enhancements to the School’s current awareness service and Library Intranet pages. Conclusion. The use of SSM for this study allowed the analysis of a broad and complex situation which enabled key changes to the information-seeking behaviour of lecturers to be implemented.