LIBRARY ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCES AND PERCIEVED EASE OF USE FOR ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES BY POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN NORTHCENTRAL, NIGERIA
Abstract
The study determined the types of library electronic information resources and perceived ease of
use for academic activities by postgraduate students in North-central, Nigeria. The specific
objectives of the study were to: identify the types of library electronic information resources
utilised for academic activities by postgraduate students in North-central, Nigeria and determine
the level of perceived ease of use of library electronic information resources for academic
activities by postgraduate students in North-central, Nigeria. The descriptive survey design was
adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 15,338 postgraduate students
enrolled in the government owned universities in North-central, Nigeria as at 2015/2016
academic session. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used, first by using random sampling
technique to select one university from each of the states in North-central, Nigeria and the
second stage was using Browler’s allocation formula to determine the sample size of each of the
universities. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Collected data were
analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as, percentages, mean scores and
standard deviation. The study revealed that postgraduate students highly consulted e-books for
needed information, had a very high access to e-books, online and offline databases, high level
of utilisation of e-books, online and offline databases and e-journals. Postgraduate students
found it easy to navigate the library electronic information resources for academic activities,
poor Internet connectivity and erratic power supply affected the ease with which they use the
LEIR for academic activities. It was concluded that postgraduate students had access to e-books
and e-journals among other relevant electronic information resources. It was recommended
among others that university management should take it as a point of duty to provide other
relevant electronic information resources which will serve not only postgraduate students but the
entire category of library users.
