Information needs and information seeking behaviour of field civil engineers of Indian railways

Abstract

Purpose/Objectives: - The objectives of this study are to find out the information needs of JEs and SSEs of the Civil Engineering Department of the Indian Railways, to assess the information provided to JEs and SSEs of Civil Engineering Department of the Indian Railways, to understand the information seeking behaviour of JEs and SSEs of the Civil Engineering Department of the Indian Railways, to study the various problems faced by JEs and SSEs while obtaining and using the information and to suggest a suitable model of information seeking for JEs and SSEs of Civil Engineering Department of the Indian Railways. newlineSignificance of the study: - The Field Civil Engineers of Indian Railways work on-field/ on-site and are directly responsible for the safe operation of the trains. A large number of artisans and workers are directly working under their supervision. This research focusses on the Field Civil Engineers of Indian Railways and their information related issues. The safety of the train operation primarily depends upon their competency to execute the works related to train operations. The exact information will be useful to them to reduce uncertainty while performing their tasks. The information in proper format, which is easily accessible by them should be available. They should be able to relate the information available, with the task they have to perform. The information should be communicated to them with elaborating intention behind it. And most important, the information they are accessing should be true. There is a large discrepancy between the information that is available and that which is needed, despite the abundance of information. newlineThe literature available suggests that, there isn t adequate research that studies and assesses their Information Needs and Information Seeking Behaviour. Therefore, the researcher undertook, a scientific study determining the information needs and information seeking behaviour of the Field Civil Engineers of the Indian Railways