Why Do Students Prefer Search Engines Over Academic Databases

Abstract

Students' preference of search engines in online information retrieval has been a problem for several reasons. This work tries to share our experience about the reasons why they do not utilize academic databases. Past experiences seeking convenience and the availability of automatic translation in search engines seem to be the main reasons. Several suggestions are offered that aim to increase the level of competency of students in utilizing academic databases. Furthermore students should also be informed adequately about the potential threats in using search engines as their only online information source. © 2013 IEEE.