Study of the information needs of New Zealand photography students

Abstract

This project addresses the lack of research into the information needs of photography students in New Zealand. It identifies and analyses the information needs of photography students by surveying a class at Canterbury University's School of Fine Arts. It focuses on the type of information that is used by photography students, what they use it for, where they get, and the role of libraries in providing this information. It also provides recommendations for those libraries that serve photography students based on the results of the survey. This research has found that libraries and books are the main place where photography students gather their information. The main use for this information is for information on specific photographers. Images are the most common format of this information. Most of the respondents found the information provider either very useful or useful in providing information. There were however a few ways in which libraries and information providers could improve their service, the main one being more photographic material is needed within a collection.