| This study examines how fluency in language, familiarity with a subject, familiarity with the Library of Congress classification of information, and familiarity with computers affect the efficiency and success of library information searching. Forty graduate students, 19 native English speakers and 21 non-native English speakers from Business and Geography Departments, first answered a background questionnaire, then wrote a list of word associations to six topics and searched for references about these topics using the Carleton University Bibliography Enquiry (CUBE) computer system. As expected, results showed that fluency in English and familiarity with a subject increased students' ability to find more information and be faster in their search. The study also revealed that participants' difficulties in finding information are mainly related to the lack of knowledge about how information is classified in CUBE and about how to use CUBE efficiently. Suggestions are made for improving training in the Library of Congress classification system and in various information retrieval programmes. |
