EVALUATING THE DIFFERENCES IN PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOUR BETWEEN AGRICULTURE PRACTITIONERS AND TEACHERS.

Prior research suggests differences in Personal Knowledge and Information Management (PKIM) behaviour for different groups of researchers. Yet, most investigations have neglected to investigate PKIM behaviour differences between agriculture teachers and practitioners. The current study filled this gap and evaluated PKIM behaviour differences between agriculture practitioners and teachers. A quantitative research design and cross-sectional survey were employed to collect the data. 232 agriculture practitioners and teachers were selected via proportionate random sampling from four agriculture institutes in Punjab, Pakistan in year 2020. Data were collected through a well-structured questionnaire having different sections about PKIM behaviour including 1) Information Gathering and Searching (IGAS) 2(Information Organizing, Keeping and Securing (IOKS) 3(Information Selecting and Evaluating (ISAE). To draw the result, independent samples t-test was applied. The study’s results demonstrate that there are notable distinctions in personal knowledge and management behaviour between agriculture practitioners and teachers, with a statistically significant t-value of 72.05 (p < .05) indicating a substantial difference. Moreover, the findings also highlighted marked variations between the two groups in their IGAS, IOKS, and ISAE scores. These observations have noteworthy implications for personal knowledge and information management behaviour in the agriculture domain, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the unique characteristics and practices of different groups within the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]