Access to information by high school learners in selected schools in the Fort Beaufort Education District, Eastern Cape Province

The level of access to educational information is pertinent to the attainment of quality education by learners. Librarians play a key role in facilitating access to such information. Access to educational information equips the possessor with the power of knowledge to assert their rights under any right regime, and a right to education cannot be fully exercised without corresponding access to educational information. Set in the Fort Beaufort Education District of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, this study evaluates the level of access to educational information as an enabler of quality education. Research revealed that despite the acclaimed educational improvement in South Africa, the quality of education in many black constituencies and provinces remains low. Therefore, the objectives of this study include inter alia an investigation of the educational information needs of high school learners in the Fort Beaufort Education District, the educational information available and accessible to them, how the learners access information, the services and technologies accessible to the learners, challenges confronting their access and means of improving learners’ access to educational information in the district and by extension in South Africa

Access to information by high school learners in selected schools in the Fort Beaufort Education District, Eastern Cape Province

The level of access to educational information is pertinent to the attainment of quality education by learners. Librarians play a key role in facilitating access to such information. Access to educational information equips the possessor with the power of knowledge to assert their rights under any right regime, and a right to education cannot be fully exercised without corresponding access to educational information. Set in the Fort Beaufort Education District of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, this study evaluates the level of access to educational information as an enabler of quality education. Research revealed that despite the acclaimed educational improvement in South Africa, the quality of education in many black constituencies and provinces remains low. Therefore, the objectives of this study include inter alia an investigation of the educational information needs of high school learners in the Fort Beaufort Education District, the educational information available and accessible to them, how the learners access information, the services and technologies accessible to the learners, challenges confronting their access and means of improving learners’ access to educational information in the district and by extension in South Africa

Information needs and constraints of access to educational information in the Fort Beaufort Education District

Types of educational information needed by learners, their level of access and librarians’ supportive roles in learning are pertinent to the attainment of quality education. This study seeks to identify the types of educational information needed by high school learners and the barriers of access. The study is underpinned by the jurisprudential theory of freedom of speech augmented by the theory of access to establish the reality of access. The study adopted a mixed methods approach to obtain data from 331 grade 12 learners, 29 teachers and 3 librarians. The findings reveal that information on requirements for admission into university, subjects taught at school, and career guidance were the most needed by learners. Access challenges include inadequate information resources and the absence of and/or non-functional school libraries. Recommendations include the adequate provision of educational information, information literacy education, employment of qualified librarians by education authorities as well as provision of functional school libraries and information technology tools. The study has shown a need to further examine, in a more rigorous way, the coping strategies of teachers and learners in information-poor communities.Keywords: educational information; high school learners; information access; information literacy education; information needs; information resources; information technology tools; school librarie

Digital media usage and prevalence of internet addiction among undergraduate students in South Africa

The use of Internet and digital media in the academic sector has significantly improved knowledge creation. The Internet has particularly proven itself to be a valuable resource in the enhancement of knowledge production and dissemination. The purpose of the study on which this chapter is based was to establish how excessive non-academic use of the Internet detrimentally affects daily lives of undergraduate students. A survey was conducted of 390 university undergraduate students, comprising mainly of adolescents or young adults, who were selected using stratified random sampling at two South African universities. The universities selected were Fort Hare and Nelson Mandela. Data was collected using the Modified Internet Addiction Test for Undergraduates (MIATU), a modification of Internet Addiction Test (IAT) questionnaire. 282 (72.3%) of the respondents indicated that they make use of the Internet daily with 34.8% spending more than 10 hours. More than 60% have access to at least two electronic devices. Most of the respondents stayed online longer than intended (x̅ 2.88), slept less at night due to Internet use (x̅ 2.63) and hence spent less time studying owing to Internet surfing (x̅ 2.27). Furthermore, the amount of time spent on the Internet had a significant relationship with the level of influence the use of the Internet had on respondents (B = 0.250, t = 4.850, p<0.05). The findings are indications that the excessive amount of time spent on the Internet served as a distraction from school work; a situation that disadvantaged students in academic productivity. These findings suggest that the uncontrolled use of new media is both a hazard and a potential danger to academic productivity. This is the first study in South Africa that empirically investigates Internet use pattern by undergraduate students, Internet use rate and problematic Internet use among undergraduate students. Keywords: Internet addiction, Internet use, Undergraduate Students, Problematic Internet use, South Africa

Information needs and seeking behaviour of library users, result from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria

No Abstract.Lagos Journal of Library and Information Science Vol. 2(2) 2004: 77-8