Journal of Modern Medical

Introduction: The aim of the study was to determine the information seeking behavior of post graduate students at Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences in Iran based on Ellis' model for using the Web.

Methods: It was a descriptive-analytical study in which the population of the study included all the MSc. students (N=50) in the fields of Biochemistry, Genetics, Parasitology and Physiology in 2014 at Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences. Data was collected by the use of a researcher-made questionnaire which was developed based on the information seeking activities in Ellis' model. Data analysis was performed through descriptive statistics and "one-way variance analysis" and "independent t-test" using SPSS 16.

Results: To access the required information, the patricians more frequently used website search engine (61.3%) and browsing homepages (58.1%). The main selection criteria of websites included subject coverage of the website, importance and the fame of websites. The most important approach for monitoring the advances of a subject of interest was referring to the previously known websites. The most preferred storing method for useful websites was bookmarking (48.6%). The major problems and limitations for accessing online resources were: low internet speed (87.1%), filtering (76.9%), and lack of information and technology infrastructure (66.7%).

Conclusion: The elements of Ellis' Model of information seeking are generally considered among the study population. Moreover, it could be helpful to organize training workshops for improving information seeking skills of students, and also to find solutions for removing the obstacles of online information access.