Studying the Information Seeking Behavior of University of Tabriz Students with Special Emphasis on Artificial Intelligence Tools

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Faculty of Education Science and Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

10.22059/jlib.2026.407273.1805

Abstract

Objective The aim of the present study was to examine the information-seeking behavior of students at the University of Tabriz, with an emphasis on identifying the challenges as well as the behavioral and cognitive consequences of using artificial intelligence in information searching.
Method: This research is applied in terms of its purpose and descriptive in terms of its data collection method, which was conducted by survey method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population of the research included all students of different levels of Tabriz University, more than 18,000 people. The sampling method was proportional stratified random sampling. The sample size was determined based on the Krejci-Morgan table and with increased reliability, 426 people were determined, of which 419 questionnaires were returned. The validity of the tool was confirmed by the opinions of professors and experts in the field of information seeking behavior, and its reliability was obtained using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for all components above 0.7. For data analysis and answering the research questions, the nonparametric tests of Friedman, Yeoman-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis were used.
Results: The findings of the study showed that the most important information need expressed by students was “educational and research information.” Artificial intelligence tools” were identified as a new and widely used information source to meet students’ information needs. Students’ knowledge of artificial intelligence tools was at a relatively high level. ChatGPT was the most widely used artificial intelligence tool. The most important motivation for students to use artificial intelligence was “improving the quality of assignments and projects.” The most common method of assessing the accuracy of information obtained from artificial intelligence was identified as “using search engine results to check the accuracy of claims, quotes, and dates.” The most important challenge of using artificial intelligence in information search was “failure to include the source or the source provided is invalid.” The challenges of “reducing or severing ties with credible scientific sources” and “possibility of misrepresentation in the information provided” were in the next order. The most important behavioral and cognitive consequences of using artificial intelligence in information search were expressed as increasing the speed of information search, saving search time, easy access to answers to questions, and providing concise and practical answers. The results of the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, respectively, showed that there was no significant difference between girls and boys, educational levels, age groups, and major educational groups in terms of behavioral and cognitive consequences of using artificial intelligence tools in information search. However, these differences were significant in terms of the level of knowledge about artificial intelligence tools. The results of the Friedman test showed that there is a significant difference between the information sources used by students of the University of Tabriz to meet their information needs and the use of methods to assess the accuracy of information obtained from artificial intelligence tools in information search.
Conclusions: Given the widespread use of AI tools as information sources among students, changes in students’ information-seeking behaviors and habits appear likely in the future. Therefore, universities should both inform students about the challenges of using AI and provide the necessary foundation for responsible and ethical use of AI in educational and research activities.

Keywords

References

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Academic Librarianship and Information Research
Volume 59, Issue 4
December 2025
Pages 1-22

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