Purpose

This research study investigated the perception of the international students on the role of the university libraries in Hungary during the COVID-19 online learning period, the research study sought to establish the level of fulfillment the university libraries had on international students’ information needs. This study was necessitated by the fact that most of the international students came from different backgrounds and cultures.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a quantitative research approach; the study used the online survey tool Google Forms, data were collected from three universities in Hungary that hosts most international students, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest University of Technology, and Economics (BME) and Budapest Business School Faculty of Finance and Accountancy (BGE). The targeted sampling population was 60 international students comprising 30 postgraduate and 30 undergraduate international students; a simple stratified random sampling method was used to collect the data. The findings were analyzed using the descriptive statistics method.

Findings

The study established that most international students never relied on their university library electronic resources, when accessing electronic resources they mainly accessed using Google search engine, this feedback can be associated with the fact that most students never attended library orientation and neither did they have information literacy training during the lockdown. Students experienced the following challenges, lack of adequate study literature, the language barrier in accessing some information, digital information illiteracy, etc. The recommendation of this study is that there is a need to offer frequent literacy studies, provide more digital resources and enhance more and easy accessibility of information resources.

Research limitations/implications

The research was confined to strictly using online survey tools due to the fact that students were isolated everywhere in Budapest, and the COVID-19 guidelines of 1.5-meter rule and social distance were still in force during the time these data were collected.

Originality/value

The study brings new limelight on the struggles international students in Hungary endured during the COVID-19 lockdown, and their perception of the role of university libraries, it equally establishes significant roles of the universities library in supporting international students.

中文翻译：

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匈牙利 COVID-19 封锁期间国际学生对大学图书馆作用的看法

目的

本研究调查了国际学生在 COVID-19 在线学习期间对匈牙利大学图书馆的作用的看法，该研究旨在确定大学图书馆对国际学生信息需求的满足程度。这项研究是必要的，因为大多数国际学生来自不同的背景和文化。

设计/方法/方法

该研究采用定量研究方法；该研究使用在线调查工具谷歌表格，数据来自匈牙利的三所国际学生最多的大学，Eötvös Loránd 大学 (ELTE)、布达佩斯技术与经济大学 (BME) 和布达佩斯商学院金融与会计学院(BGE)。目标抽样人群为 60 名国际学生，其中包括 30 名研究生和 30 名本科国际学生；使用简单的分层随机抽样方法收集数据。使用描述性统计方法对研究结果进行分析。

发现

研究表明，大多数国际学生从不依赖大学图书馆的电子资源，在访问他们主要使用谷歌搜索引擎访问的电子资源时，这种反馈可能与大多数学生从未参加过图书馆培训，也没有信息素养有关。封锁期间的训练。学生经历了以下挑战，缺乏足够的学习文献，获取某些信息的语言障碍，数字信息文盲等。本研究的建议是有必要提供频繁的扫盲研究，提供更多的数字资源并提高更多和易于获取信息资源。

研究限制/影响

该研究仅限于严格使用在线调查工具，因为学生在布达佩斯到处都被隔离，并且在收集这些数据期间，1.5 米规则和社交距离的 COVID-19 指南仍然有效。

原创性/价值

该研究为匈牙利国际学生在 COVID-19 封锁期间所经历的斗争以及他们对大学图书馆作用的看法带来了新的关注，它同样确立了大学图书馆在支持国际学生方面的重要作用。