Wikipedia Utilization Pattern of Post Graduate Science Students: A Case Study of University of Kerala

Abstract

The paper investigates the awareness and use of wikipedia by the post graduate science students at the University of Kerala through structured questionnaires. The survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire circulated among 241 M. Sc students taken from 10 science departments of University of Kerala and the response rate was 78.42%. A stratified accidental random sample method was used for selection of respondents. Google is the most preferred search engine for the science students to locate information electronically. A majority of 50% respondents frequently use wikipedia and 35.44% of them are eager to know more about it. Majority of the students (72.48%) opined that they can get adequate information from the Wikipedia for their academic purpose and 80.31% are getting current information from it. The study reveals that 74.60% of total students are aware of wikipedia as an open source Information resources. The paper concludes that wikipedia have become an integral part of the information needs of post graduate students at the University of Kerala.