| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this research is to identify the information searching behavior of
farmers in Ajibuhara Village, Tigapanah District, Karo Regency, based on Meho
and Tibbo's theory. The research method used was descriptive with a qualitative
approach and the data collection techniques were interview, observation, and
documentation study. The informants in this research were 10 farmers selected
through purposive sampling. The technique used to analyze the data was data
reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results of the research
showed that at the starting stage, farmers determined the topic of information
needs first with initial searching through the internet and discussion with fellow
farmers. At the chaining stage, farmers did forward and backward chaining. The
browsing stage was done in a semi-directed way through online media, namely
social media, and offline through social interaction. Monitoring conducted
monitoring through information contact and social media, but monitoring was
only limited to market information. At the accessing stage, farmers accessed
information sources online and offline. At the differentiating stage, farmers
evaluated and compared information sources based on accessibility, trust, and
relevance. At the extracting stage, farmers identified and took relevant
information digitally and manually. At the verifying stage, farmers did re
checking of the suitability of information content by cross-checking. At the
networking stage, farmers built correlation only informally with fellow farmers.
Information managing, farmers stored information in an unstructured way on
smartphones. The results of this research show that in general, farmers in
Ajibuhara Village did all stages of information searching behavior proposed by
Meho and Tibbo. However, the stages of monitoring, networking, and information
managing need to be improved because they are not fully in accordance with
Meho and Tibbo's theory. | en_US |
