Postgraduate Students\u27 Perception Towards the Use of ICT in Research in Ghanaian Public Universities

The use of ICT in research has become significant among postgraduate students. However, available literature shows that there is little research on the perception and adoption of this technology in developing countries. This problem has created gap in the existing literature. This, therefore, make it necessary to find out more about the perceptions of postgraduate students on the use of ICT in research. The paper intents to discuss these. The paper adopted the survey methodology by using the stratified and convenience sampling techniques to select 346 postgraduate students from University of Ghana and University of Cape Coast to participate in the study. Incorporating the Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3), this study revealed the following: Most postgraduate students perceive the use of ICT applications in research as very important. Again, majority of them intimated that ICT facilities that their institutions provided met their research needs. The findings further indicated that students accessed ICT applications for quick access to information, convenience of access to information, time saving, and currency of information accessed. This paper strongly recommends that public universities in Ghana should maintain the already existing ICT facilities. However, they should ensure that all ICT facilities are monitored and maintained

A Comparative Analysis of Social Media Usage and Academic Performance in Public and Private Senior High Schools

The study comparatively analyzed social media usage and academic performance in public and private senior high schools. The issue of social media and academic performance has been a very debatable topic with regard to its effect. This study further explores the relation between private and public schools in relation to social media use and academic performance. The objectives of the study was to find out activities performed by students on social media, its effect on spelling during examination, and to find out if participation affected students grades before and after using social media. The study used the survey method to solicit responses from two public senior schools and two private senior high schools. The study revealed that majority of respondents from the private schools used Whatsapp and Facebook more often. Also, respondents from the private schools spent more hours online as compared to counterparts in the public schools. In addition, a higher proportion of respondents from the private schools experienced drop in grades as compared to their counterparts in the public schools. The study therefore recommends a strict enforcement of rules in private schools, counselling for addicted students etc. Keywords: Social Media, Grades, Public Schools, Private Schools, Addictio

Publication Output Of Professional Librarians In Public University Libraries In Ghana

The study examines publication output among professional librarians in four public universities in Ghana. The major objectives of the study were to determine publication output of the professional librarians and investigate the challenges confronting publication efforts of the professional librarians, among others. The mixed methods approach was employed for the study. The questionnaire was used to collect data from 47 professional librarians and four university librarians were also interviewed. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyse the quantitative data collected through the questionnaire, while content analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data that was gathered from the interviews. The analysis used was descriptive statistics, comprising frequencies, percentages and means, among others. The major findings revealed that publication output was low among the respondents and journal articles were the most popular publication format. Another finding also indicated that the higher ranked professional librarians were more prolific than lower ranked ones, while the professional librarians from two of the public universities were most prolific. Generally, the results could not establish correlation between working experience and publication output of the professional librarians. The results revealed that challenges that hampered publication efforts of the professional librarians were lack of time and heavy workload, inflexible work schedule, and absence of formal mentoring programme. It is recommended that the professional librarians should be provided with work time for research and publication, training, workshops and seminars, formal mentoring programmes, and collaboration, among others, to facilitate their research and scholarly publication efforts

Microbial Quality of Household Drinking Water in the Sunyani Municipality of Ghana

The health risk associated with the microbial contamination of drinking water has been a major challenge in most households in the developing world. This challenge stems from the fact that water management systems are either inadequate or non-existent. In this study, the microbial quality of household drinking water in the Sunyani Municipality of Ghana was assessed. Thirty water samples were collected from the various households from eight communities for bacteriological analysis using the multiple tube method. The results were recorded as Most Probable Number (MPN) of coliform per 100 ml of water and compared with World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking water quality. From the study, the mean total coliform of water ranged from 1.75 x 103 to 8.5 x106 cfu/100 ml. Out of the 30 water samples, twenty-two (73.3%) were positive with coliforms. The commonest source of drinking water standpipe had fifty percent of samples contaminated with coliforms. All four samples collected from the borehole were contaminated with coliforms. Out of the 22 coliform-positive samples, 59.1% of them showed positive for faecal coliform, out of which 50% of samples tested positive for the presence of Escherichia coli (E. coli). The study recommends intensive community education on proper water management systems as well as encouraging proper household hygiene practices. Keywords: Total coliforms, E. coli, Most Probable Number, water qualit

Stereo-Selectivity of Human Serum Albumin to Enantiomeric and Isoelectronic Pollutants Dissected by Spectroscopy, Calorimetry and Bioinformatics

1–naphthol (1N), 2–naphthol (2N) and 8–quinolinol (8H) are general water pollutants. 1N and 2N are the configurational enantiomers and 8H is isoelectronic to 1N and 2N. These pollutants when ingested are transported in the blood by proteins like human serum albumin (HSA). Binding of these pollutants to HSA has been explored to elucidate the specific selectivity of molecular recognition by this multiligand binding protein. The association constants (Kb) of these pollutants to HSA were moderate (104–105 M−1). The proximity of the ligands to HSA is also revealed by their average binding distance, r, which is estimated to be in the range of 4.39–5.37 nm. The binding free energy (ΔG) in each case remains effectively the same for each site because of enthalpy–entropy compensation (EEC). The difference observed between ΔCpexp and ΔCpcalc are suggested to be caused by binding–induced flexibility changes in the HSA. Efforts are also made to elaborate the differences observed in binding isotherms obtained through multiple approaches of calorimetry, spectroscopy and bioinformatics. We suggest that difference in dissociation constants of pollutants by calorimetry, spectroscopic and computational approaches could correspond to occurrence of different set of populations of pollutants having different molecular characteristics in ground state and excited state. Furthermore, our observation of enhanced binding of pollutants (2N and 8H) in the presence of hemin signifies that ligands like hemin may enhance the storage period of these pollutants in blood that may even facilitate the ill effects of these pollutants

The Impact of Mercenaries and Private Military and Security Companies on Civil War Severity between 1946 and 2002

Research has long abandoned the view that only states wage war. On the contrary, civil war research has produced an impressive body of literature on violent non-state actors. Still, a particular group of actors—mercenaries—has been widely neglected so far, although they have participated in numerous conflicts in the second half of the twentieth century. Whether their presence aggravated or improved the situation is a matter of dispute. Some believe that the additional military capabilities provided by mercenaries help to end civil wars quickly without increased bloodshed, while others deem mercenaries greedy and bloodthirsty combatants who contribute to making civil wars more brutal, while a third opinion differentiates between different types of mercenaries. This article tests the impact of mercenaries on civil war severity. The evidence indicates that the presence of both mercenaries and private military and security contractors increases its severity

Social Media Network Participation and Academic Performance In Senior High Schools in Ghana

This study looks at social media network participation and academic performance in senior high schools. The study was aimed at identifying social media network sites and their usage among students, how students networked and participated on social media networks, time invested by students on social networks, the effects of social media on students’ grammar and spelling as well as the effects of social network participation on the student’s academic performance within the context of the social learning and the use and gratification theories. To achieve the objectives of the research, the study used a mixed method approach which involved the survey of students in four senior high schools and interviews of heads of the senior high schools. The study revealed that majority of respondents used Whatsapp and Facebook for making friends and chatting. In addition, majority of respondents experienced negative effects such as poor grammar and spelling, late submission of assignment, less study time and poor academic performance due to the heavy participation on social media networks. Furthermore, there was a high addiction rate among students in the usage of social media networks. Nevertheless, there were cases where others experienced improvement in their readings skills as a result of participation on social media networks. Also, respondents shared ideas, discussed and shared examination questions among themselves on social media networks. The study recommended the strict enforcement of Ghana Education Service rule on electronic devices usage in schools, promotion of social media usage for academic purpose, counselling for addicted students and the use of the right grammar and spelling when participating on social networks

Freedom of information and records management in Ghana

In recent years there has been a drive towards the passage and implementation of freedom of information (FOI) legislations in many countries. Access to information is gaining acceptance as a necessary tool in ensuring the participation of the citizenry in democratic governance. An effective implementation of a freedom of information law is expected to lead to an open, transparent and accountable society. This paper identifies some countries which have passed and implemented the FOI laws and the relevance of the law in the Ghanaian context. Some basic elements of FOI are provided, a summary of the Ghanaian draft bill given and the basic information infrastructure in the country examined. The paper argues that an effective records management system is required to ensure a successful implementation of a freedom of information law and cites from the United Kingdom and India Acts to support this position. Some weaknesses of the bill such as, lack of an impartial internal review procedure, independent implementing and monitoring authorities are identified and suggestion made for solving these problems. African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science Vol. 16(1) 2006: 29-3

Postgraduate Students\u27 Perception Towards the Use of ICT in Research in Ghanaian Public Universities

The use of ICT in research has become significant among postgraduate students. However, available literature shows that there is little research on the perception and adoption of this technology in developing countries. This problem has created gap in the existing literature. This, therefore, make it necessary to find out more about the perceptions of postgraduate students on the use of ICT in research. The paper intents to discuss these. The paper adopted the survey methodology by using the stratified and convenience sampling techniques to select 346 postgraduate students from University of Ghana and University of Cape Coast to participate in the study. Incorporating the Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3), this study revealed the following: Most postgraduate students perceive the use of ICT applications in research as very important. Again, majority of them intimated that ICT facilities that their institutions provided met their research needs. The findings further indicated that students accessed ICT applications for quick access to information, convenience of access to information, time saving, and currency of information accessed. This paper strongly recommends that public universities in Ghana should maintain the already existing ICT facilities. However, they should ensure that all ICT facilities are monitored and maintained

The Management of Chieftaincy Records in Ghana: An Overview

In many developing countries like Ghana, the chieftaincy institution serves both administrative and advisory role to the government in community affairs. Using data obtained through a survey, the study examined the management of chieftaincy records in Ghana. The study revealed that chieftaincy records serve as source material for both traditional administration and research. However, requests for records as research material tilt towards land administration and the history of the chieftaincy stools and land. The study concludes with recommendations on how to ensure effective management of chieftaincy records for both current and future use. Afr. J. Lib. Arch. & Inf. Sc. Vol.15(1) 2005: 67-7