Utilization of Information Technology Facilities for Research by Undergraduate Students in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

Information Technology (IT) has added value to effective research productivity in Nigeria tertiary institutions and colleges. This study employed a survey research method on the availability and use of IT facilities for undergraduate  students’ research work in five schools of Federal College of Education, Obudu, Cross River State. The respondents were two hundred students who were randomly selected from the five schools of the college. A Questionnaire method was used for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that  use of computer and internet were the  major IT facilities  used  for students’ research work but the extent of use were mostly occasionally 33(16.15%) for School of Education, Arts and Social Sciences 24 (12.0%) while Languages, Vocation and Sciences recorded  22(11.0%), 20(10.0%) and 10(5.0%) respectively. The major obstacles for non-use of IT were Inadequate IT facilities 70(35.0%), incessant power failure 60(30.0%) and Inadequate skills 50(25.0%) amongst others. However, the need for acquisition of more IT facilities in the various Schools as well as adequate training programmes for students would boost their knowledge skills in the effective use and access to scholarly information resources for research output. Keywords: Information Technology Facilities, Federal College of Education, Undergraduate Students, CRS, Nigeria

Availability and Utilization of Electronic Resources by Postgraduate Students in a Nigerian University Library: A Case Study of University of Calabar, Nigeria

This study examined the extent of availability and utilization of electronic resources by postgraduate (PG) students in the University of Calabar (UNICAL) Library. Five research questions and a single hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey was adopted and the population of the study was two thousand, seven hundred and twenty six, while a sample of four hundred postgraduate library users were selected through stratified sampling; two hundred postgraduate student  each from Faculty of Education and Faculty of Science. Questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r) was the statistical analysis technique adopted to test the hypothesis under study at 0.05 level of significance. Three hundred and eighty two dully filled questionnaires were received, giving an overall response rate of 95.5 per cent. The result of the analysis revealed that electronic resources were available in Unical Library and P.G. students utilized them. However, online databases were underutilized. The University Library had e-journals, e-books and access to databases and Internet resources. E-journals were the most often used electronic resources. Lack of computer skills, slow network, inconsistent internet connectivity, power outage and irrelevant electronic information resources were the problems postgraduate students encountered while accessing and using electronic resources in Unical Library. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made: adequate budgetary allocation should be given to the University Library for subscription to online databases and acquisition of electronic books, more relevant open access databases should be made accessible to users, creation of awareness on the available electronic resources in Unical Library, installation of inverter and battery system in the Electronic Library, and organising users education for better use of electronic resources in Unical Library. Keywords: Availability, Utilization, Electronic Resources, University of Calabar library, Postgraduate Students

Influence of Information Source Parameters and personal Characteristics of Librarians on readers\u27 ability to Retrieve Information in Reference service

NKOYO B. EDEM (PH.D) DEPUTY UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR LIBRARY CALABAR E- mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT This study was conducted in four (4) University libraries, (two states and two federal) in the south – south zone of Nigeria to provide information on the perception of both librarians and readers on the influence of information source parameters (obsolete information sources and availability of relevant information sources), as well as personal characteristics of librarians (attitude and experience) on readers ability to retrieve information. The study used survey design to determine by means of a one item in a four point likert scale questionnaire, the influence of these variables on reader’s ability to retrieve information. Four (4) hypotheses were tested. Out of the total of 700 library registered undergraduate students, only 698 students and all the 9 librarians answered and returned usable questionnaires. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS} and t-test was used for data analysis. The major findings are that all the four hypotheses tested, rejected the null hypotheses, which means that all these variables influence reader’s ability to retrieve information. This calls for the librarians to improve upon their personal characteristics as well as the provision of relevant information sources if quality reference services are to be attained. Based on these findings, recommendations were made, the major ones of which are the automation and internet connectivity of the reference section of the library, provision of current and relevant information, online access to information sources/e-library and re-training of librarians especially those librarians working in the reader’s services libraries. Keywords: University libraries, reference service, personal characteristics, information source parameters, information retrieval and south-south zone

Development of electronic libraries in Nigerian universities

With the advent of electronic resources and the approval of Nigeria Virtual Library Project by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Nigeria in 2002, Nigerian universities have begun to join their counterparts around the world in developing electronic libraries to enhance the quality of teaching, learning and research. The paper explored the extent to which electronic libraries are being developed in Nigeria n universities . Email survey was used as the research method w ith questionnaire as the instrument for data collection and academic librarians as respondents . The findings of the study indicated that all responding universities in the survey have developed their electronic libraries. Electronic libraries in Nigerian u niversities a re dominantly funded by multinational organizations , university management s, and international organizations/agencies . There are varieties of electronic resources that are accessible in electronic libraries in Nigerian universities, but the popular ones are e -journals and online databases. Furthermore, frequent power outage and poor attitude o f university management s respectively are major factors that affect effective development of electronic libraries in Nigerian universities. The paper makes advocacy for the need to redress these problems as appropriate.Keywords: Electronic, Libraries, Journals, Resources, Nigerian, University, Libraries, Online, Databases