Personal Information Management Practices of University Students in Punjab, Pakistan

1 Introduction

The concept of Personal Information Management (PIM) has evolved significantly over the years, with several researchers exploring it in their studies. Świgoń (2013) expanded on this concept, focusing on the organization and management of various forms of personal information. For students, this encompasses emails, web references, documents, handwritten notes, research articles, and other related materials. Given the vast amount of information students must handle across both digital and print formats, effective PIM practices are essential to ensure that needed information is readily available when required. Without proper management, stored information can become difficult to retrieve, leading to inefficiencies and stress. Therefore, students often adopt diverse PIM tools and techniques to acquire and maintain relevant information, which supports their understanding and enhances their research skills.

Bergman (2013) describes PIM as the practice of storing personal information in a way that allows for easy retrieval in the future. Jones and Teevan (2007) similarly describe PIM as a set of activities through which individuals acquire, keep, organize, and use information to fulfill personal and professional objectives. These activities help users maintain accessibility to essential resources, such as physical documents, digital files, emails, web links, and notes, enabling their reuse when necessary. Teevan, Jones, and Bederson (2006) add to this understanding by describing PIM as the actions individuals take to collect, organize, retrieve, and process information within their personal spaces. Thus, PIM encompasses various methods and practices individuals use to handle the large amounts of information they encounter and generate in everyday life, making it critical to success in an information-dense society.

The origins of PIM extend back to early computing days, as people began using computers to create organized file systems and directories for their information (Jones and Teevan 2007). With advancements in digital technology, PIM expanded to include management of emails, calendars, contacts, and other forms of digital information, which became increasingly vital in the digital era (Jones et al. 2017). Today, the availability of PIM applications on mobile devices has further amplified its importance, helping users manage their personal information more effectively. For university students, the need for PIM practices is particularly significant due to the extensive amount of information they must handle regularly. Their tasks include managing digital resources, creating structured folders, performing regular data backups, effectively handling emails, and organizing time to meet academic requirements. Collaboration with peers and supervisors often requires well-structured information-sharing practices, and familiarity with ethical and legal standards related to information use ensures that their academic work remains credible and responsible.

University students are a relevant population for studying PIM practices because they are constantly interacting with both digital and physical information sources across various academic tasks (Saleem, Ameen, and Ashiq 2021). Efficient management of assignments, research materials, emails, and online resources is essential for academic success. Furthermore, developing strong PIM skills during their time at university equips students for future career environments, where effective information handling is crucial to professional success. For this reason, examining PIM among university students sheds light on how these practices can be encouraged and optimized in an academic setting, ultimately benefiting both students’ immediate academic performance and their long-term professional abilities.

A critical component that influences PIM practices is information literacy, as described by Stewart and Basic (2014). Information literacy empowers students to locate, access, evaluate, and apply various information sources effectively, which is integral to PIM. By honing information literacy skills, students become more proficient in organizing, storing, retrieving, and utilizing information for their academic endeavors. This proficiency not only boosts academic productivity but also instills a responsible approach to research, where students respect ethical and legal standards regarding information use. Ultimately, these skills help students produce high-quality work and meet academic demands more effectively.

Thus, PIM is a valuable set of skills for students, enabling them to handle large quantities of information efficiently and achieve higher-quality results in their academic work. The effective integration of PIM practices with strong information literacy skills promotes a structured, organized approach to managing personal information, supporting both academic success and readiness for future professional challenges.

2 Literature Review

Various research studies have been conducted on PIM at an international level for investigating its different facets. But there is a gap in the literature in the Pakistani context, as few studies have been done regarding PIM practices among students here. This section reviews the related studies on PIM practices.

3 Statement of the Problem

In the digital era, many academic activities depend on digital platforms and the significance of PIM practices among university students has increased. Jones (2010) sees PIM as the method individuals use to collect, organize, store and retrieve information for personal and academic purposes. It is obvious that academic success has a close relation with effective PIM practices, as it helps students to handle a lot of information efficiently and avoid information overload. Despite the importance of these practices, there are some shortcomings among university students in Punjab in managing their personal information and there are questions over whether these practices differ across demographic factors such as gender, age, institutional affiliation, and educational level.

Research shows that students often face challenges in managing personal information, such as disorganization, difficulty in retrieving saved data, and improper use of digital tools (Iqbal, Tariq, and Ahmad 2021). Furthermore, demographic factors have been found to influence the PIM practices of individuals, with variations observed in how different age groups, genders, and academic levels approach information management (Saleem, Ameen, and Ashiq 2021). In the context of Punjab, Pakistan, little research has been conducted on PIM practices, and the extent to which these practices are shaped by demographic characteristics remains unclear. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring the PIM practices of currently enrolled university students in Punjab, examining differences in opinions based on demographic factors, and suggesting measures for improvement to enhance the effectiveness of PIM practices among students.

4 Objectives of the Study

To address the research problem, the following research objectives are used.

1. To identify the personal information management (PIM) practices of currently enrolled university students.

2. To examine the difference of opinions on PIM practices based on participants’ demographics (gender, age group, institution, and education level).

3. To suggest measures for the improvement of PIM practices of university students.

5 Research Design/Methodology

The quantitative research method was considered most appropriate and best suitable in this research study for investigating the PIM practices of students, as this research design provides descriptions of present circumstances, including individuals’ attitudes, preferences, behaviors, practices, concerns, or interests (Gay, Mills, and Airasian 2009). Moreover, this technique is widely favored due to its high flexibility, allowing researchers to investigate a broad spectrum of research objectives. It also allows for easy generalizability while ensuring respondent anonymity (Muijs 2004). The data collection technique was a close-ended questionnaire, which is utilized to collect the necessary data in the study due to its convenience for both the participants and the researcher.

6 Population, Sampling Technique, and Sample Size

The population is the total set of subjects, events, or groups of individuals about which the researcher wants to establish various characteristics (Fraenkel, Wallen, and Hyun 1996). The population for the study consisted of currently enrolled students at two universities in the Sargodha region (University of Sargodha and University of Lahore, Sargodha campus) in Pakistan. Sargodha is a metropolitan city of Pakistan with its two largest universities being public sector (University of Sargodha) and private sector (University of Lahore). The total number of students in the University of Sargodha was approximately 20,000 in all disciplines (BS to PhD, personal communication). On the other hand, the University of Lahore Sargodha campus has 4,000 total students in all disciplines (personal communication).

Etikan, Musa, and Alkassim (2016) explain that convenience samples are sometimes called “accidental samples” because the researcher chooses elements for the sample based on their nearby location or availability during data collection. Therefore, convenience sampling technique was used in this research. Convenience sampling is the best choice for selecting participants non-randomly based on their availability at the time of data collection (Gay, Mills, and Airasian 2012), allowing the researcher to efficiently gather data from a diverse group of students across various disciplines and academic years. The formula provided by Wrenn, Stevens, and Loudon (2002) was applied to calculate the sample size. This formula determined n = 384 as a total sample size, as under:

where:

1. n = sample size,

2. Z = value from normal distribution table for desired confidence level (i.e. corresponding to the chosen alpha level – for 0.05 it is 1.96)

3. p = obtained population proportion (i.e. 50 %) and q = l − p

4. e = error of sampling or desired precision = ±0.05

Although the sample size was calculated as 384, to minimize the sampling error and to enhance the strength of generalizability, the researcher decided to collect data from 400 respondents. Therefore, 400 questionnaires were distributed among the participants to collect data for this study. Out of the total, 355 participants returned the questionnaire, with a response rate of 88.75 %.

7 Measurement Method

Saunders et al. (2011) stated that when aiming to depict the attitudes and traits of a larger population, a survey-based questionnaire is often deemed appropriate, and it is also known as an efficient data collection procedure. In previous studies on PIM practices, researchers commonly utilized questionnaires for investigation. With this procedure, data can be collected at a low cost by mail, in person, or electronically, allowing for wide geographical coverage (Sekaran and Bougie 2013; Walliman and Baiche 2001). The study used the survey based questionnaire as the data collection method to gather information from the targeted population.

8 Measurement Instrument

Questionnaires can be designed to gather data from the participant according to the nature of the study (quantitative and qualitative), and thus depend on the study’s nature and objectives. The questionnaire is administered either in-person, by phone, or online and can be self-administered or administered from experts.

A questionnaire serves as a research method whereby a predefined set of structured questions is utilized to collect information from particular participants. It is a common research technique used in many fields, including social sciences, health sciences, and business, to collect different variety of data on various subjects, for example study of beliefs, behaviors, experiences, and attitudes. The questionnaire is distributed among the respondents personally, through telephone calls and online as per the availability of the participants. Before creating a new research instrument, it is essential for a researcher to determine if there are already existing, reliable, and validated tools that align with the study’s objectives (Mertens 2010). For this study, the Personal Information Management (PIM) practices scale, developed by Świgoń (2013), was selected. This scale includes 30 items organized across five dimensions.

The decision to use this particular scale was influenced by its clarity, brevity, and comprehensiveness, which make it well-suited to address the research objectives. The questionnaire consisted of two parts, where the first dealt with personal profiles of the respondents and the second covered the items related to PIM and its subsections.

9 The Validity and Reliability of the Measures

The validity of this instrument was ensured through expert reviews. Expert reviews involve specialists in the field of Library and information science (LIS)/Information management (IM) who ensured the accuracy of the items. The construct validity of the data collection was measured by convergent and discriminant validity. To assess convergent validity, composite reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were computed. The CR value for each dimension was calculated, and all dimensions yielded values greater than 0.70. The AVE values ranged from 0.51 to 0.59. These CR and AVE values exceeded the suggested thresholds of 0.60 for CR and 0.50 for AVE as suggested by Byrne (2016).

Cronbach’s alpha was computed for assessing the validity and internal consistency of the 30 scale items. The alpha value was 0.948, indicating a strong level of consistency among the scale items. Additionally, this alpha value, as suggested by Hair et al. (2018), exceeded the threshold value of ≥0.70 (Table 1).

10 Data Collection Procedure and Response Rate

Participants for this study were recruited using a convenience sampling technique, targeting university students in Punjab, Pakistan, to capture a range of perspectives on personal information management (PIM) practices. Online (Google Doc) and personally administered questionnaires were distributed among the target population for data collection. Participants for the study were recruited from two universities in the Sargodha region. All ethical considerations were considered and given due importance in this study. Throughout the study, no harm was caused to any student, and their voluntary participation was ensured. Before collecting data the purpose statement was presented to the participants. After receiving permission from university administration, data was collected from 335, with a 88.75 response rate. However, a few limitations of this study should be noted. First, the study relies on self-reported data, which may introduce response bias and affect the accuracy of participants’ reported practices. Second, the cross-sectional nature of the research provides a snapshot of PIM practices at a single point in time, limiting the ability to assess changes over time or causal relationships. Additionally, the study’s scope may not fully capture the diverse cultural and technological contexts that influence PIM practices across different groups. Despite these limitations, this research serves as a valuable foundation for future studies to assess PIM practices and other variables, such as the impact of PIM practices on information literacy, lifelong learning, creativity, and research productivity. After collection of required data, the data was analyzed and interpreted with the help of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)-22.

11 Data Analysis

For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical tests were applied to achieve research objectives. Descriptive statistics involves percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation, while in inferential statistics, independent samples t-test and ANOVA were run.

12 Discussion

The purpose of the study is to assess the PIM practices of university students in Punjab Pakistan. The findings of the study have shown that students have neutral level of agreement with all the statements. PIM skills encompass five dimensions: “gathering/searching”; “organizing/keeping/securing”; “selecting/evaluating”; “spreading/sharing”; and “creating/analyzing/presenting”.

13 Theoretical and Practical Implications

The current study comprised many theoretical implications. For example, this study is helpful to acquire deep knowledge about PIM practices of university students and also know the challenges facing effective management of information. The results of such studies can be useful for IL program planners to fulfil the specific needs of students regarding PIM practices improvement. This study focuses on the significance of IL skills, for instance, the ability to find, access, assess, and utilize information from different sources. Promotion of information literacy can help students to manage their information for decision making. The significance of such studies enhance productivity by using various tools like PIM apps and an e-mail management system.

Keeping in mind the practical implications, universities and educational institutions should use the findings of the studies to design training programs and workshops for students’ information literacy skills improvement, which will enable students to manage their personal information effectively. These interventions be will useful for students to streamline their information management process by using practical tools and strategies. Educational institutions should give priority to PIM and include it in the curriculum so that students can acquire essential skills for the digital era. The present study will be fruitful for researchers and practitioners of information management. It will also indicate the need for future research to identify PIM practices in various demographic and academic settings.

14 Limitations, Suggestions, and Future Research Directions

This study has several limitations. First, it employed a convenience sampling technique, which may cause the issue of generalizability. Second, the study focused on university students in a specific region, which may limit the applicability of the findings to other contexts. Third, it is also evident that individuals overestimate their perceived skills over actual skills. Thus, the theory of the Dunning–Kruger effect should be considered while interpreting the data. Furthermore, the findings of this study are not claimed to be truly representative of all Pakistani university students with a higher level of confidence as this study was restricted to one province of Pakistan only. The same study should be replicated in other provinces of Pakistan for generalization purposes.

On the basis of above-mentioned results, some suggestions are made so as to improve PIM practices among university students, so they can enhance their effectiveness in gathering, organizing, and utilizing information.

First, information literacy training and workshops should be offered to students to teach them essential skills for effective PIM. Academic institutions, particularly university libraries and faculty members, should take the primary role in organizing and conducting these training sessions. The main topics covered in such training should be information searching, evaluating sources, organizing, and managing resources, so as to introduce PIM tools and technologies to students so they can organize and retrieve information effectively, for example reference management software, note-taking apps, cloud storage solutions, and task management platforms. Training and guidance should be provided on how to use these tools effectively.

Time management skills should be developed among students so that they can gather, organize, and review information effectively. Students should plan their schedules, give priority to the tasks, avoid information overload, and focus on efficient PIM to do so. They should adopt various information organization strategies, for example folder creation, subfolders, tagging, labels, and maintaining files. Proper guidance should be provided to students so they can evaluate all information resources critically. Students should be trained in such a way that they can assess the credibility, relevancy, and authority of sources properly, which will help them to source accurate and reliable information.

Collaborative learning is very useful for students, as it will increase their PIM as well as their knowledge and comprehension. Students should be motivated to review and update stored information continuously. Regular reviewing supports students in maintaining and updating their information repository. Proper resources should be allocated for PIM practices. Librarians/information professionals should provide guidance and arrange regular workshops for PIM skills. The role of institutional factors can and should be investigated in future research, for example educational policies and students support services for shaping PIM practices. Such studies will highlight the need for PIM practices by evaluating the effectiveness of information literacy and PIM among learners.

15 Conclusions

The results of the study revealed as a whole that the students agreed about each category. This inferences projected that a number of respondents perceived that they agreed regarding PIM practices. There was also a concern that universities can support their students to enhance their PIM practices, which will improve productivity, information organization, and critical thinking. Universities should provide hands-on training to students that will enable them to manage their personal information efficiently and effectively. These skills will prove beneficial to students not only during their academic journey but also in their professional endeavors.