Article Health Information behaviour during COVID-19 outbreak among Egyptian library and information science undergraduate students Ahmed Shehata Sultan Qaboos University, Oman and Minia University, Egypt Abstract Health information shared on the Internet has the potential to improve people’s quality of life. However, the level of health information literacy and informational skills determines the individuals’ ability to obtain credible health information useful for them. This study investigates the Egyptian LIS undergraduates’ health information behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study has adopted a quantitative approach using a question- naire to explore library and information science undergraduates’ health information behaviour. A sample of 161 students answered a questionnaire. The data were analysed using SPSS software. The study results show that official health websites, social media, and family and friends are the primary sources for health information for the participants. The findings also revealed that the sample has adequate health information skills, though many of the participants still need to raise their information literacy skills. Information credibility and personal beliefs were found to affect the participants’ decision to share health information on the Internet. One of the limitations of the study is that the sample selected in this study was LIS students who are trained to find reliable information as part of their education. Findings may be different for the “average” student. Furthermore, the questionnaire was distributed in one university, which means that the results cannot be generalised in other LIS departments using different courses. Therefore, more studies need to be conducted in other LIS departments with different course plans as they may produce different results. This study explores the health information behaviour of LIS undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study results may help develop the course plan in many LIS departments in Egypt and the Middle East, which would help improve the students’ health information literacy. Keywords health information, information literacy, COVID-19, misinformation, information sharing Submitted: 6 October, 2020; Accepted: 4 November, 2020. Introduction Individuals’ ability to locate and retrieve health- related information is deemed necessary to be able to take care of and maintain their health. Health infor- mation literacy is described as “the set of abilities needed to recognise a health information need; iden- tify likely information sources and use them to retrieve relevant information; assess the quality of the information and its applicability to a specific situa- tion; and analyse, understand, and use the information to make good health decisions.” (Reference and User Services Association, 2008). Nutbeam (2008) defined information literacy as “the degree to which individ- uals have the capacity to obtain, process, and under- stand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” The focus of these definitions is the skills that would enable the Corresponding author: Ahmed Shehata, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman and Minia University, Egypt. Email: a.shehata@squ.edu.om Information Development ª The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0266666920976181 journals.sagepub.com/home/idv 2021, Vol. 37(3) 417–430