Exploring Students’ Competency in Personal Information Management: Problems and Prospects

The selection of relevant information and its effective management is not a simple task and requires specific competencies. This study is aimed at exploring the competency of university students with regards to personal information management (PIM). The objective is to identify the problems in PIM and to provide a framework for improving it. For this study, the sample consisted of 400 undergraduate students randomly selected from a large public-sector university in Islamabad. The data were collected through a questionnaire with closed and open-ended items. The closed-ended items were analyzed through cross tabs and Chi-square tests to find a relationship between specific PIM competencies in different programs. The questionnaire items helped in acquiring information about students' specific competencies in PIM were categorized as ‘low', ‘moderate' and ‘high' competency. The students identified the problems they faced in PIM and suggested ways for improving it. The findings of this study will help in improving organization and application of information, and also in exploring further avenues of research in improving PIM skills of university students in the developing countries.