USER EDUCATION, COMPUTER LITERACY AND ICT ACCESSIBILITY AS FACTORS INFLUENCING THE USE OF E-RESOUCES BY POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN

UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIAN

BY

DANIEL ABUBAKARMATRIC NUMBER: 119522

A Ph.D PRE-FIELD SEMINAR PRESENTED AT THE DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY, ARCHIVAL AND INFORMATION STUDIES, (LARIS)

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN.

SUPERVISOR: DR.AIREN ADETIMIRIN

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Postgraduate students are those pursuing masters, doctoral and postgraduate diploma degrees.

Postgraduate students should possess certain qualities.

Postgraduate students may enrol for their studies with little or no knowledge about library services and resources for their research, learning and other scholarly activities.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY CONT’D...

Research is the most important component of postgraduate studies (Smith, 2006).

Research enables postgraduate students to systematically investigate society’s problems and proffer solutions to them.

For postgraduate students to conduct research, they need the university libraries

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY CONT’D...

University libraries have the responsibility for providing resources (print and electronic) to meet their research needs.

E-resources as defined by Ekwelem, Okafor and Ukwoma (2009) are information sources that are available and can be accessed electronically through such computer-networked facilities as online library catalogues, the internet and the World Wide Web, CD-ROM databases et cetera.

E-resources are often faster than consulting print indexes, especially when searching retrospectively, and they are straight forward when using combinations of keywords. Ray and Day (1998) and Tenopir (2003)

University libraries invest substantial sums of money on provision of e-resources for improved academic perfomance of postgraduate students.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY CONT’D... postgraduate students have not optimally utilized

these enormous resources for their daily scholarly activities (Mutula, 2004 and Ozoemelem, 2009).

Factors that could influence the use of e-resources are: user education, computer literacy (Moskal, Dziuban, Upchurch, Hartman and Truma ,2006), age and library use (Kidd,2002), gender, status, subject discipline and demographics( Tenopir 2003).

BACKGROUNG TO THE STUDY CONT’D...

Cram (2008) defined user education as an attempt to change the behaviour of an individual who will be developing a search strategy to retrieve useful information.

User education is critical for retrieving e-resources for scholarly work.

It is required to afford postgraduate students retrieve accurate and adequate electronic information.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY CONT’D...

Computer literacy Idowu, Adagunodo, and Idowu (2004) define

computer literacy as the ability to make use of computer system to word process documents, analyse data, and develop small computer programmes, browse the Internet and install software.

postgraduates with adequate computer literacy may be able to access, retrieve and use e-resources.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY CONT’D...

ICT accessibility ICT accessibility refers to the ‘how’ and ‘where’ users

access e-resources. The ‘how’ refers to the gateways used to access e-resources and the ‘where’ refers to the location where the service could be used (Ismail and Zainab, 2007)

Increased ICT access points may increase the use of e-resources by postgraduate students.

Statement of the Problem

University libraries in Nigeria are now providing resources in electronic formats.

low level usage of e-resources by postgraduates

This may be attributed due to inadequate user education, computer literacy and ICT accessibility

The study seeks, in particular to investigate the influence of user education, computer literacy and ICT accessibility in postgraduate students’ use of e-resources in university libraries in Nigeria

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to investigate if user education, computer literacy and ICT accessibility will influence the use of e-resources among postgraduate students’ in federal university libraries in Nigeria.

The specific objectives are to: Find out the e-resources available in the federal university

libraries;

find out the purpose of using e-resources by postgraduate students;

determine the frequency of use of e-resources by postgraduate students in federal university libraries in Nigeria ;

The specific objectives Cont’d ascertain the level of library user education possessed by postgraduate students; measure the computer literacy level of the students;

assess the extent of ICT accessibility for using e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries Nigeria ;

ascertain the relationship between user education and the use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries in Nigeria;

determine the relationship between computer literacy level of the postgraduate students and their use of e-resources in the libraries;

find out the relationship of ICT accessibility and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in federal university libraries Nigeria;

determine the composite influence of the independent variables (user education, computer literacy and ICT accessibility) on use of e-resources.

Research Questions The study will answer the following research

questions: What are the e-resources available for use to postgraduate

students? What is the purpose of e-resources use by postgraduate students

in federal university libraries Nigeria? What is the frequency of use of e-resources by postgraduate

students in federal university libraries Nigeria? What is the level of user education possessed by the

postgraduate students? What is the computer literacy level of the postgraduate

students? How accessible are ICT facilities to postgraduate students to

use e-resources in federal university libraries Nigeria?

HypothesesThe following null hypotheses will be tested in the study at 0.05

level of significance:

There is no significant relationship between user education provision and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries in Nigeria.

There is no significant relationship between postgraduate students’ computer literacy and their use of e-resources.

There is no significant relationship between ICT accessibility in university libraries in Nigeria and use of e-resources by postgraduate students.

There is no significant composite influence of user education, computer literacy and ICT accessibility on postgraduate students’ use of e-resources.

Scope of the study

The postgraduate students include those pursuing Master, Mphil/PhD and PhD degrees only, postgraduate diploma students are excluded.

Various e-resources such as e-journal, e- manuscript, e-maps, e-books, e-research reports, e-bibliographic databases, e- theses e-newspapers etcetera.

Significance of the study Influence postgraduate students to use e-resources Development of the nation (Nigeria) University librarians will benefit:• setting a conducive e-resources policy use and designing effective

products and services in university libraries

• designing a better user education method for PGS

The university libraries would benefit by conserving space meant to place print materials and thereby utilizing these spaces to create more access points for e-resources use and this also will translate into better ergonomics

Addition of literature on librarianship in the area of user studies

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATUREThis chapter reviews related existing literature under the following headings:

Research needs of postgraduate students and university libraries in Africa.

ICT use for research and its application by postgraduate students in university libraries

E-resources and their use by postgraduate students in university libraries User education and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university

libraries

Computer literacy and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries

ICT Accessibility and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries

Theoretical framework Conceptual model Appraisal of literature reviewed

Research needs of postgraduate students and university libraries in Africa

Urgent research needs of postgraduate students (PGS) in African university libraries:

Internet Access (Agboola, 2010),

New emerging research methods (Musoke, 2008),

Computer literacy (Blignant and Els 2010),

User education (Tsai and Tsai,2003),

Suitable space (Rempel,Chritian and Mellinger 2011). Etc.

ICT use for research and its application by postgraduate students in university libraries:

Types of ICT in most university libraries world over include:

• Computers, • Internet connectivity,• Printers,• Scanners, and • Video Recorders etc.(Islam & Islam 2007 and Ozoemelem,

2009)

ICT use and its application has advantages to both university libraries and PGS

University libraries in Nigeria are showcasing different stages of ICT applications.

E –resources use by PGS in university libraries saves their time, meets their information needs and has broken geographical barriers to information sources (Sharma, 2009).

Many African University libraries have introduced e-resources because of their benefits to PGS academic performance.

E-resources use in university libraries in Nigeria shows that an update is desirable, especially for PG research students (Akintunde, 2006).

E-resources and their use by postgraduate students in university libraries

User education programme in university libraries provide course related instruction and other interventions to support students develop their information skills (Klaid, 2009).

Previous studies have argued that user education is necessary for effective search and use of e-resources by PGS in university libraries (Busayo, 2003; Adeleke & Olorunsola, 2010; Islam & Tsuji, 2010).

Considering that university libraries is one of the sophisticated information systems, PGS can derive maximum benefits from it, only if they are thought how to retrieve needed electronic information through user education (Popoola & Zaid, 2007).

User education and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries

Computer literacy and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries

In an automated library environment, PGS cannot find books by searching in a card catalogue, but they must use computerised database (Hall, 2005).

However, most PGS possessed ordinary computer literacy skills (Dange, 2010).

Nevertheless, computer literacy can be a tremendous asset for retrieving e-resources in university libraries by PGS.

ICT Accessibility and use of e-resources by postgraduate students in university libraries

Accessibility is a significant theme in library science.

University libraries provides access to e-resources through such means as: e-book readers, Sony Reader, Computers, Internet connectivity, WebPages and E-reserves etc(Behler, 2009;Muswazi, 2009 & Vasich, 2010)

There are inadequate ICT facilities in university libraries in Nigeria (Oduwole, 2005;Ozoemelem, 2009).

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework of this study is based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

The ultimate goal of TAM is “use” This has relationship with the dependent variable

which is “use of e-resources”

For the independent variables (user education and computer literacy, the end goal is “use”.

Also, ICT accessibility has relationship with this theory on the basis of “Acceptance "and “use”

Conceptual ModelUser Education

Computer Literacy

ICT Accessibility

Use of e-resources

Conceptual model for user education, computer literacy, ICT accessibility and use of library e-resources (Self constructed).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design: descriptive survey research design of the expost facto type. It is correlational .

Study population: comprises Masters, Mphil/PhD and Ph.D, totalling 68,827 in the 16 Federal conventional universities in Nigeria (Table 3.1). And also all the system librarians in the sixteen universities.

Table 3.1 Federal Conventional Universities in Nigeria as at 2011/2012S/N Universities Population of PG students

1 Ahmadu Bello University Zaria 8800

2 Bayero University Kano 2481

3 Obafemi Awolowo University Ife 2500

4 University of Ibadan 10,986

5 University of Jos 2641

6 University of Lagos 10,450

7 University of Maiduguri 1692

8 University of Nigeria Nsukka 3184

9 University of Port Harcourt 1008

10 University of Uyo 2042

11 Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka 2015

12 University of Abuja 3157

13 University of Benin 2002

14 University of Calabar 9946

15 University of Ilorin 3500

16 Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto 2423

Total 68,827

(Source: The Postgraduate School of the Universities through personal contacts)

Sampling Technique and Sample Size

Multi-stage sampling technique will be adapted for this study.

10 universities were randomly selected through balloting method (Table 3.2).

four faculties (Arts, Education, Science and Social Sciences) were purposively selected.

Two departments will be selected purposively from each of the selected faculties.

proportionate random sampling technique will be used to select 50% masters’(M) students, 30% Mphil/Ph.D (MP/P) students and 20% Ph.D (P) students (Table 3.2).

Sampling Technique and sample Size Cont’d

A sampling fraction of 5% given a sample size of 2,726 which is adequate because Thomas (2003) recommended sample size of 500 for a population of 9,000.

To have equitable distribution of the postgraduate students in the four faculties selected from each university, 25% of the postgraduate students will be selected from each faculty.

Table 3.2 Samples Selected Based of Faculties/Depts in Each UniversityS/N University Population of

Postgraduate students (Masters, Mphil and Ph.D) in selected universities ( P)

Sample size per University (5%).

( S) =( 5 % of P)

Target Sample per Faculty in each University

K = S/4

Target Sample for each Group of PG Students/ Faculty

M MP/P P

50% 30% 20%

1 Ahmadu Bello University Zaria

8800 440 110 55 33 22

2 Bayero University Kano

2481 124 31 16 9 6

3 University of Abuja 3157 157 39 20 11 8

4 University of Benin 2002 100 25 13 7 5

5 University of Calabar

9946 497 124 62 37 25

6 University of Ibadan 10986 549 137 69 41 27

7 University of Jos 2641 132 33 17 10 6

8 University of Lagos 10450 522 130 65 39 26

9 University of Maiduguri

1692 84 21 11 6 4

10 Usman Danfodio University Sokoto

2423 121 30 15 9 6

Total 54578 2726

(Source: The Postgraduate School of the selected Federal Conventional Universities through personal contacts)

Data Collection Instruments

Five instruments were developed by the researcher: • postgraduate students’ questionnaire on library user

education (PGQLUE),• postgraduate students’ computer literacy test

(PGSCLT),• questionnaire on postgraduate students’ ICT

accessibility (QPSIA),• postgraduate students’ questionnaire on use of library

e-resources(PGSQULER),• interview checklist for system librarians(ICSL)

information not included in the other four instruments.

Validity and Reliability of the Instruments

Face validity the main instruments were subjected to pilot study, Instruments PGQLUE, QPSIA and PGSQULER were analyzed

with the Cronbach alpha method to determine their reliabilities while instrument PGSCLT was analysed using Split-half method to determine its reliability.

The reliability Coefficient for instrument on:• PGQLUE=0.84,• PGSCLT( Part one=0.77 and Part two=0.72),• QPSIA=0.77 and• PGSQUER=0.79

Method of Data Collection 40 research assistants will be recruited and trained.

The four major instruments will be administered at once with the aid of the four research assistants per each university to making the administration less cumbersome.

An appeal will be made to postgraduate students lecturers so that the postgraduate student’s computer literacy test be achieved within the stipulated 30 minutes. The researcher will be there physically to facilitate the process.

the researcher will personally conduct the interview exercise on the Systems librarians, after collection of the four major instruments. In all, a total of 10 weeks will be required for data collection.

Method of Data Analysis Data collected will be analyzed using descriptive

statistics viz: frequency counts, percentage, mean standard deviation and weighted average.

Also, Pearson Product Moment Correlation will be used to test for bivariate relationships for hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 and Multiple Regression analysis will be used to test for multiple variables (the combined influence of user education, computer literacy and ICT accessibility) or (composite influence) on one variable (use of e-resources) i.e for hypothesis 4.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.