Authors

• Männistö, Ruut (University of Tampere. Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media)

Keywords

information retrieval, information use, learning, students (college), teaching materials

Abstract

The study charted personal information management of students at the University of Tampere and how the students stored and organised documents related to their studies.

First, the respondents were asked about paper documents related to their studies. The respondents were asked how they took notes in class, what type of a calendar they used, which types of documents they kept on paper, for how long they stored different types of paper documents, and how they organised paper documents. Next, the respondents were asked which documents they stored electronically and where they stored them. Organisation and naming practices of electronic documents were also examined, as well as whether the respondents considered finding their electronic documents easy. Finally, questions covered transferring documents from one location to another, erasing unnecessary files, and whether the respondents preferred to read study materials electronically or on paper.

Background variables included age group, gender, faculty, and number of years spent studying at higher education institutions.