INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ACADEMIC-LIBRARIES - A USER SURVEY

A study was undertaken to identify characteristics of the internationa l student population and determine these students' patterns of library use. Analyses were carried out to measure a number of relationships c oncerning the students' prior use of microcomputers, both in libraries and otherwise, and their current perceived difficulties using librari es. Findings suggest that not all international students arrive in the United States with appropriate information retrieval skills to take a dvantage of automated bibliographic access systems. Libraries may need to make special efforts to extend instructional services to these stu dents.