EXAMINING THE INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF NAVRONGO CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

The academic library has to undertake research in order to understand and improve upon its performance in line with the mission and vision of the mother institution. This paper therefore examined the information seeking behaviour of undergraduate students of the University for Development Studies, Navrongo Campus to have an insight into their information gathering processes and how to guide them. Three hundred (300) students from a total population of 987 were purposively sampled in the Campus Library within a period of two weeks in December, 2013 between the peak hours of 10.00am to 12.00 noon. The library’s registration list served as a guide to avoid duplication. The main tool for data collection was the questionnaire which comprised both closed and open-ended questions while the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used for analyzing the data. The study adopted a descriptive survey method using frequency tables and charts. Major findings were that 37.33% information gathered by respondents was predominantly for academic purposes, 34.00% of the respondents’ source of academic information was the internet, followed by library resources (27.34%) and lecture notes (23.00%) respectively. The study concluded that since students learn from multiple sources of information with more dependence on the Internet there was the need for proper guidance. Recommendations include: The Library should intensify information literacy programmes, the university should provide adequate ICT infrastructure, secured Internet connectivity and also the recruitment of additional professional librarians should be given priority

Challenges 1to Building Synergy between Indigenous Knowledge and Academic Libraries in Ghana

Literature on libraries in Africa have tended to focus on changing from oral culture to a written one. This article focus on the indigenous knowledge traditions and academic libraries to unveil emerging forms that forge complementarities as a basis for building synergy. The paper support the argument that academic libraries are critical contributors to knowledge generation/production. However, researchers further accords a similar role for Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and its producers. Thus, the IK community becomes a critical player rather than mere beneficiaries of knowledge production. They are essential collaborators in the production of a decolonized, inclusive and functional knowledge system. Building synergy will enable Academic Libraries (AL) validate Indigenous Knowledge and help preserve the cultural heritage of indigenous populations as mandated by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To achieve this synergy of IK and AL systems, this paper argues that there is the need to overcome the challenges such as Validation, Documentation, National Policy, and Intellectual Property Rights that confront the process of establishing synergy. We concluded that, accreditation agencies must enforce existing policies on IK as a prerequisite for academic programmes

Awareness and Use of Electronic Resources in University Libraries: A Case Study of University for Development Studies Library

Academic libraries are hub of knowledge and hence are considered as integral parts of academic life. Academic libraries have been in existence for over 500 years and are still very useful today to all educational institutions. The advent of Information and Communication Technology has led to the use of electronic resources in libraries. However, empirical studies have shown that the use of these resources by faculty members is very low. The objective of this study therefore, was to examine the use of electronic resources by lecturers of the University for Development Studies, Wa campus. Primary data were collected from 80 lecturers through the use of a simple random sampling procedure. The data were collected with the aid of a questionnaire and analysed through the use of binary logistics regression model. The results indicate that 88.8% of the respondents were users of the Library and 65% were aware of the availability of e-resources in the Library. This suggests that awareness is high but utilization is low. The determinants of e-resource utilisation in the Library include purpose of Library visit and sources of awareness of the e-resources in the Library. Besides, it was discovered that inadequate Library infrastructure, low internet bandwith, and inadequate trained library staff were the major challenges confronting the use of e-resources of the Library. The study therefore, recommends that efforts to improve the use of e-resources in the Library should include ways of creating user awareness, training/workshops for users and staff, and responding to the challenges confronting utilisation

Decolonizing Our Library System: The Living Librarians (Baansi) of Dagbon, Northern Ghana

The living librarians of Dagbon are knowledge producers who commit the history of Dagbon into memory and recount it from generation to generation. This study used various instruments such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations, storytelling, phased assertion, documents’ analysis, field notes, historical profiling, and acoustic appreciation to explore the living librarian of Dagbon in Northern Ghana. The data was collected from June 2013 to August 2014. The study revealed that there were various forms of livings libraries (baansi) also known as court musicians but most of the categories are now extinct. However, the most recognized and important ones that run through them all are the lunsi, the Akarima and the goonje. The akarima, goonje and lunsi, are part and perhaps the most active and vibrant group of Dagbon cultural knowledge, history and musical art. Hence they form the community of knowledge producers and managers; as a result, people call them living libraries or moving encyclopedias. This revelation presupposes that knowledge does not only exist only in books or in brick and motor edifices like modern libraries, for libraries are also defined as “repositories of knowledge’ and the Baansi’s of Dagbon also known as living libraries or the indigenous communities are not left out because they have a vast pool of knowledge to be tap

EXAMINING THE INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF NAVRONGO CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

The academic library has to undertake research in order to understand and improve upon its performance in line with the mission and vision of the mother institution. This paper therefore examined the information seeking behaviour of undergraduate students of the University for Development Studies, Navrongo Campus to have an insight into their information gathering processes and how to guide them. Three hundred (300) students from a total population of 987 were purposively sampled in the Campus Library within a period of two weeks in December, 2013 between the peak hours of 10.00am to 12.00 noon. The library’s registration list served as a guide to avoid duplication. The main tool for data collection was the questionnaire which comprised both closed and open-ended questions while the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used for analyzing the data. The study adopted a descriptive survey method using frequency tables and charts. Major findings were that 37.33% information gathered by respondents was predominantly for academic purposes, 34.00% of the respondents’ source of academic information was the internet, followed by library resources (27.34%) and lecture notes (23.00%) respectively. The study concluded that since students learn from multiple sources of information with more dependence on the Internet there was the need for proper guidance. Recommendations include: The Library should intensify information literacy programmes, the university should provide adequate ICT infrastructure, secured Internet connectivity and also the recruitment of additional professional librarians should be given priority