ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to examine the use of search engines for research by library and information science students in the University of Benin. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Library and information science students in the University of Benin was used for this study. The sampling techniques used for the study was the simple random sampling Technique. A questionnaire was designed and titled the use of search engines for research by library and information science students in the University of Benin” (USERLISS). A total of 119 copies of the questionnaires were distributed and 100 questionnaires were retrieved and found useful.
The findings of this study shows that the types of search engines used by library and information science students include Google, Google Scholar, yahoo, Ask. Com, JSTOR, Ask Jeeves, Bing, Baidu, Yandex, Refseek.com and Web crawler, and that search engines have positive impact on library and information science students research and also challenges encountered by library and information science students while using search engines are high cost of data, too many irrelevant information and advertisements on web pages and lack of search strategies.
Recommendations was made which states that the library should organize training for library and information science students on how to use the search engines to ensure efficiency in conducting research and affordable access point should be provided by the university authority to eradicate the challenges of high cost of data.
