The Effect of Library Automation Services on the Utilisation of Information Resources in Bingham University Library

Abstract

This work titled The Effect of Library Automation services on the Utilisation of Information Resources in Bingham University Library appraised the utilisation of automation services to access and utilise library information resources in Bingham University, Karu in Nasarawa State. A survey research method was adopted for the study, and the questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. The population of the study consisted of 751 students who registered with the library in the current academic year and out of which 254 users were randomly selected to respond to the questionnaire out of which 234 were retrieved and found usable representing 92.13% of the total respondents and data were analysed using frequency tables and percentages. The significant findings of the study were that majority of the respondents were not aware of many of the library automation services, which led to underutilisation of these services and low satisfaction. Ignorance of the existence of library automation services, inadequate searching skills of the users, inefficient computer systems, and inaccessibility of the library website. Others are nonfunctional computer systems, epileptic Wi-Fi signal, and irregular power supply contributed to underutilisation and low satisfaction of the automation services of the library. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the library should embark on massive awareness programs; library staff should be trained on how to market and encourage the students to use these automation services, and the library should regularly interview the users to ascertain their level of satisfaction. And the management of the university should continue to improve in the provision of power supply, Internet infrastructure, and provision of databases that are current and relevant to the courses run by the university.