The information-seeking behavior of aquaculture researchers at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center

Understanding the information-seeking behavior of library patrons is essential for the library to provide quality resources and services, and to satisfy its patrons’ information needs. A quantitative research was conducted to describe the information searching and using behaviors of the Filipino aquaculture scientists, researchers and research staff at the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC/AQD). The study revealed that although the respondents find it useful to go to the library to get assistance from the librarian, and to browse and read current acquisitions related to their research, they visited the library infrequently. However, remote library services, especially email and phone services, were highly utilized. When searching for information, the Internet, mainly via search engines, was highly preferred rather than visiting the Library and using its online public access catalog (OPAC) or its databases. The combination of print and electronic formats was highly preferred when reading, rather than print only or electronic-only. The majority would print and save the retrieved electronic copy

Responsible aquaculturists: The information-seeking behavior of milkfish farmers in Iloilo, Philippines

Compliance with a policy, law, standard or code requires understanding of its provisions. However, for someone to understand it, he must be aware of its existence and be provided access to it. A qualitative-quantitative research was conducted to determine the awareness of milkfish farmers about the Philippine Code of Practice for Aquaculture in the municipalities of Leganes and Zarraga, Iloilo Province, the Philippines and their information-seeking behaviors. Results revealed that the majority of the respondents were not aware of the existence of the Code, hence, there is a low level of compliance. When seeking everyday life information, the majority of the milkfish farmers depended on television, personal or person-to-person communication and radio, while when seeking for fish farming information, personal communication was the preferred source. None of the respondents was aware of the existence of their municipal libraries