SMM 742 Online Information Services Hanifah Abdullah 2010616316 Experiences with online searching of Electrical Engineering Information

among engineers

Purpose

To explore the experiences of engineers in the usage of online searching to locate Electrical Engineering information

Design/Methodology/Approach

Questionnaires & Interviews To collect primary data to collect required information to supplement to the questionnaire method To bring more clarity to the data

Design/Methodology/Approach (cont)
Respondents

A total of 5 engineers at Public Works Department of Malaysia Selected based on their years of service (1 -3 years) Google generation, well verse on latest ICT development

The Qualitative Questions

How frequently do you use search engines when online? Do you prefer to search information on electrical engineering using books or online search and why? Which search engine do you use when performing online searching and why do you choose the search engine? What are the reasons when you search the information about electrical engineering online? Did you apply any strategy or technique when performing the searching? If any what technique did you applied? What is your most preferred format when downloading the information or file? Why do you prefer the format? What is your acceptable response time (in seconds) for the engine to retrieve the result and why? Please describe what is your action if the searching was unsuccessful? Please describe what are the barriers or problems in using online searching?

Objective of the Study

To determine the awareness of engineers on online searching To identify engineers preference in finding information on Electrical Engineering information To understand the barrier faced by engineers when searching online

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 1

Frequency of search engines usage

All respondents use search engine every time online (40%), almost Spent 1 hour in a everyday (20%), single session frequently (20%) and very often (20%).
Engineers use search engine every time they are online.

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 2

Online Electrical Engineering information over Electrical Engineering Books

80% prefer online EE information

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 3

Most Preferred search engine

100% use Google and Yahoo Reasons 1) Simple interface to navigate 2) Convenient yet simple layout 3) Less advertisement 4) Filter harmful or spam website

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 4

The reason to search information about Electrical Engineering
Engineers go online to seek alternative viewpoints and they agreed the internet is the primary source of information

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 5

The search strategy

42.85% - did not apply specific strategy, 28.5% use keywords , 14.3% BOOLEAN operators 14.3% Select country or region

Engineers are lack of online searching knowledge and skill

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 6

Most preferred downloaded online format

100% Prefer PDF format

Acceptable response time to retreived results

1) Acceptable response time range from 0.1 secs to 30 secs 2) Not paying attention to retrieval time

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 7

Those who accepted response time maximum of 1 sec pointed out that with faster retrieval more information can be gathered in a short time resulting in work process improvement and efficiency.

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 8

Unsuccessful searching
40% will switch to another search engine if the searching produced irrelevant result

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 9

Barriers using online searching

1)Networking 41.7% 2) Speed of the internet 25% 3) Server downtime 16.7% 4) Copyright issue 8.3% 1) unable to view streaming video on Electrical Engineering processes thus cannot visualize the actual process 2)file transfers time too long 3) Stability of networks which depend on weather condition

Data analysis & Interpretation Question 10

How to improve and promote online searching among engineers in PWD

Develop technical website Campaign on online searching Roadshow interbranch on promoting Knowledge Portal Assign engineers to present on latest technology in Management Meeting Joint venture with Board of Engineers to promote online searching

Frequency 2 2 1 1 1

Findings
The findings clearly reveal that all respondent (100%) use search engine when they are online.

80% of the respondents prefer to acquire information on electrical engineering information online rather than books. Engineers in PWD prefer Google search engine to help them in their searching. Majority of the engineers use internet because internet is the primary source of information. Similarly, they use internet to get alternative view point on certain topics. More than half of the engineers did not apply specific search strategy when search online. This is an indication of lacking of knowledge and skill on online searching among the engineers.

Findings (cont..)

PDF is the most downloaded format by the entire respondent due to its fast downloaded time and commonly available format in most computers. The analysis shows that the response time acceptable by the respondents range from 0.1 sec to 30 sec. 40% of the respondent will switch search engine if the search engine produce irrelevant or unwanted result. Networking problems is the major problem that hindrance the online searching activity whiles the speed of the internet is the next barrier that slowing down the online searching activity.

Conclusion

The online searching experience for engineers can be further studied and analyses in order to identify the weaknesses and find ways to improve. Although only the first step, this study demonstrates that detailed, open ended interviews with engineers are a promising approach to uncovering their perceptions. Similar studies in other context will enrich our knowledge of the factors that influence online searching and information.

Thank You