THE ANALYSIS OF THE INFORMATION BEHAVIOR OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS: SPECIAL REFERENCE TO UNIVERSITIES IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

Information behavior examines how individuals interact with information, encompassing purposeful and passive actions in their daily lives. It includes seeking, managing, giving, and using information across various roles. This study focused on the administrative officers of Sri Lankan Universities, addressing an area that has received relatively less attention in the existing literature. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to comprehend the impact of personal and professional factors on the information behavior of Administrative Officers in State Universities of Sri Lanka. Moreover, the exploration of this study is primarily anchored in the proven effort to fill a gap. The research employed an online questionnaire as its research tool. Data collection involved the distribution of the questionnaire among a sample size of 218 officers from 17 state universities, resulting in an 81% response rate. The study collected data on three personal-related variables—age, gender, and education—and three professional-related variables—management level, job experience, and usage of information systems. Additionally, three dimensions of information behavior were investigated: information sources, information characteristics, and information types. The SPSS statistical analysis package was employed for multivariate analysis of variance, analysis of variance, and multiple comparisons using the Scheffe test to fulfill the study's objectives. Based on the study findings, professional factors such as position, experience, IT usage, and personal factors like age and education emerged as contextual elements impacting the three dimensions of information behavior among administrative officers. Further, a comprehensive analysis of the three independent variables was conducted to identify significant differences in means among subgroups and ascertain the direction of these variations. Therefore, one implication from the study's findings is that the age, education level, management experience, management position, and IT/IS usage of educational administrative officers collectively influence their information behavior. Furthermore, there are subgroup differences regarding the impact of information behavior on said factors.