Abstract:
With the development and wide accessibility of Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) students would be expected to move away from traditional sources of information, such
as books, towards the internet. With the objective of studying information seeking behaviour
and the use of internet prior to university entrance, a survey was carried out on first year MBBS
undergraduates at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya in 2016. Data were collected
using a self-administered questionnaire distributed at the orientation programme for students.
Of the 155 students that responded to the questionnaire, 65% were females and 52.9% were
from the Western Province. The most frequent method of finding required information prior to
entering the university, as noted by the responders, was searching the internet (98.7%).
Referring library books (80.0%) and their own textbooks (61.9%) were the next most common
methods. This is also reflected by 87.1% of the students stating that they accessed the internet
at least several days per week. Finding information was mentioned by most (94.2%) as the
reason for going online. But, a considerable number also used the internet for entertainment
(85.8%) and accessing social media websites (78.1%). The main devices used when accessing
the web were smart phones (87%) and personal desktops/laptops (79.4%). When it comes to
frequency of internet usage, comparative analyses failed to show significant differences
between the two genders (χ2 = 2.242, p = 0.134) or those residing in and outside the Western
Province (χ2 = 1.534, p = 0.215).
Even with the inclination towards the internet as a major source of information, the reliance on
text books (either their own or of colleagues or from the libraries) seem to have still maintained
its relevance (with 94.2% as compared to the 98.7% that referred to the web). Wide availability
of devices and methods of accessing the internet, along with the ever increasing influence of
ICT in education as well as day-to-day life is reflected in these findings.
