Institute of Sport and Exercise Science Students’ Perception of Library Resources and Their Availability

While students appear to find library resources difficult to understand and use, they also seem reluctant to ask for help or unwilling to persevere when searching does not yield instant results. Focusing on undergraduate students studying Sport and Exercise Science, this paper discusses the findings of focus group interviews conducted with each undergraduate year group. The students were asked about their expectations of the library service and how they had acquired the information skills needed to use library resources. Students struggled to articulate individual skills required for successful library searches and frequently identified library instruction with boredom and frustration. The findings indicate that students expect using library resources to be easy, find librarian-led library teaching to be unrealistic, and develop a strategic searching strategy whereby as little time is spent on researching as possible. While primarily the views of ISES students, the findings could be applied to the wider student body. The paper recommends further investigation into students’ strategic searching and how this relates to their information literacy needs.