An Investigation on the Study Trend and Information Needs of the Members of the Libraries of Tehran Municipality Art and Cultural Organization

An Investigation on the Study Trend and Information Needs of the Members of the Libraries of Tehran Municipality Art and Cultural Organization

Abstract. The main objective of this study is to recognize and determine the information needs and study interests of the study population in order to compile a proper study trend for it. This research covers the study trend and information needs of the members of the libraries of Tehran municipality art and cultural organization using the survey research method. Out of 19681 active members of the grade 2 libraries of this organization, 378 members were studied using the random sampling method proportional to the size and volume of each region. Data were collected using questionnaires. The information of the obtained data was analyzed using the statistical software programs including Excel & SPSS. Chi-square test, one-sample t-test, independent T-test and Pearson correlation coefficient test were used in order to measure the relationships between variables and test the hypotheses. The statistical population included 378 subjects, most of them (48.9%) were 20-30 years old and 44.7% had Bachelor's degrees. The most important purpose of most individuals who visit the libraries of the organization (56.9%) was to use the study halls, and the internet service was requested as the most significant source for meeting the information needs of the libraries' members. The first five priorities of the information needs of the study population were applied sciences with an average of (23.12), art with an average of (15.70), social sciences with an average of (13.26), literature with an average of (13.03) and English language with an average of (11.25), respectively. In most topics, interests were significantly higher than needs, i.e., there was a significant difference between information needs and study interests of the libraries' members in different regions. Results about the study trend showed that the extent to which people need a source as a study trend is related to their gender, the results also showed that women more needed the study trend than men did, but these needs have no relationship with their age and education. In other words, with increasing the age or education level of the clients, the need for study trend does not increase or decrease. 

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