Modern foreign studies of information needs of students of higher educational institutions (review of publications

Abstract

Educating of the culture of information needs of future specialists and teaching effective ways of how to meet them are among the urgent tasks of higher education. The goal of the paper is to characterize the status of research in the field of academic information needs. The author reviews the publications of 2015–2021, included into the Scopus and Web of Science databases. She characterizes the document flow, discusses the basic contexts of the studies, highlights the organizational and methodological aspects of research, and reveals the influence of the research base on the results of studying the hierarchy of student information needs. The relationship of and differences between the concept of academic information needs and the concept of information needs related to educational activities are demonstrated. The academic information needs are stipulated by the need to maintain academic performance, to adapt to academic work and future career, to overcome learning difficulties, to master learning methods, to get involved in student activities and academic life, to live on or off campus, and to participate in international programs, etc. The extrinsic factors affecting the formation, expression and satisfaction of academic information needs include: environment, area of study, the functions performed by the student and the timing for the assignment. The intrinsic factors are: level of education, previous experience, age, personal and physical characteristics, and level of motivation. The author argues that the specific character of academic information needs of older students is studied insufficiently. She also formulates the proposals on how to educate the culture of academic information needs.