A Study on Information Retrieval Problems of Visually Impaired University Students

Abstract

Developments in information and communication technologies increase the amount of information produced and the importance of access to information in various formats. Visually impaired university students who have various and multi-directional information needs have problems with accessing information in various formats during their education. In this study, information resources, libraries and library services used by visually impaired students, along with the problems they encounter when they use university libraries and library web sites were investigated. Additionally, facilities and services provided by university libraries for the visually impaired students, problems libraries encounter while providing these facilities and services and their future plans were also investigated. The results indicate that information needs of visually impaired students are not satisfied by the university libraries. University libraries are insufficient in terms of developing collection, services and facilities for visually impaired and accessibility of visually impaired is not taken into account while university library web pages are designed.