Online Search Behavior of Ophthalmologists: A Study in India

Abstract

Background: In the information age, Ophthalmologists retrieve information online and deal with the  retrieved information in different ways. The purpose of this study is to investigate the online search  behavior of ophthalmologists. Methodology: The study design is cross sectional and convenience sampling method is adopted. A  structured questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS 18 PASW Statistical package was used for  statistical analysis. Frequencies, percentages, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Factor  Analysis, Wilcoxon signed rank test were used in the study. Findings: Around 633 ophthalmologists working in 47 academic eye hospitals from 16 states of India  were included in the study. The study results revealed that majority of the ophthalmologists exhibit  the attitude " Change the search terms in accordance to the results returned " followed by " Copy and  paste / Download / bookmark the information ", "Check and read the citations / references of the  retrieved information". The statistical test results showed up that there does not exist a statistical  difference between ophthalmologists’ attitude and gender, age, designation, experience and institution  type. The two major factors of ophthalmologists’ online information search behavior were identified  as conscious search and casual search. The conscious search factor was significantly higher than the  casual search. Conclusion: The study results revealed that the ophthalmologists’ online search behavior is same.  Ophthalmic libraries and other information service providers will understand the ophthalmologists  search behavior and provide their digital platforms accordingly. This will be helpful to promote their  digital platforms and digital resources.