ABSTRACT
This study investigated
the influence of information literacy skills on the use of e-library resources
by part-time undergraduate students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo
State. The population of the study comprised all the 3215 students of the
part-time programme. The descriptive survey method was adopted for the study,
questionnaire was used for data collection and random sampling technique was
used to draw a sample size of 200. Out of the 200 copies of questionnaire
administered, 167 were retrieved and analysed using simple percentage, mean and
standard deviation. Findings from the study showed that majority of respondents
indicated that E-books (mean=3.44), e-journals (mean=3.43) and electronic
database (mean=3.18) are available at the university library. Also, majority of
the respondents indicated that they can recognize when there is need for
information (mean=3.69) but can neither locate relevant information to satisfy
their information needs (mean=1.78), evaluate information sources critically to
determine if they are relevant to their information need (mean=1.53) nor use
information in an ethical way (mean=2.07). Findings also revealed that majority
of the respondents acquire information literacy skills on their own through the
use of textbooks (mean=3.12) and on the internet (mean=3.53). Furthermore, it
was discovered that the effects of information literacy skills on undergraduate
students include ease of access (3.38), ease of use (3.31) and confidence in
using e-library resources (3.35). Finally, the challenges faced by majority of
the respondents include incessant electric power outage (3.10), lack of ICT and
information literacy skills (2.59), limited time given to each user of the
e-library (3.44). Recommendations put forward include that universities should
adopt and fully implement the information literacy competency standard, that
one-on-one instruction on e-library resources and their use be offered in
schools.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background
of the Study
Information explosion in the present information age
has made it increasingly impossible for students in higher institutions of
learning to learn everything they need to know in their field of study within a
few years at school. To become independent, lifelong learners even after school,
students need to be equipped with critical skills amongst which are information
literacy skills. As the American Library Association Presidential Committee on
Information Literacy explains, "Ultimately, information literate people
are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they
know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use
information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people
prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information
needed for any task or decision at hand."
In recent years Information Literacy has become a
global issue and many Information Literacy initiatives have been documented
throughout the world particularly as it relates to higher education. According
to the American Library Association, information literacy is the ability to
"recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate,
evaluate, and use effectively the needed information". Information
Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information.
Information literacy skills empower people with the critical skills which
should enable them to become independent lifelong learners. These skills enable
people to apply their knowledge from the familiar environment to the unfamiliar
and to ensure that people get a lifelong education, libraries should be made
accessible and library services should be made available at all places, to all
sections of the society.
Now, the information society is characterized by a
constantly increasing volume of information as well as advancements in
information and communication technologies and to say that information literacy
is becoming increasingly important, is to state the obvious, because being able
to effectively access and use library resources especially those of electronic nature
requires information literacy (Arms, 2005). Libraries, according to Nwalo (2000),
are primarily set up to acquire, organise and make accessible to users, needed
information resources in the best possible format and within the quickest
possible time. University libraries on their part have the responsibility of
providing a wide range of resources to meet undergraduate students’ research
needs, collect information for their assignments and term papers, prepare for
examinations and broaden their general knowledge, thereby enabling them to
become independent individuals and to be able to add their own quota to the
society. In addition, undergraduate students may need these information
resources to write articles and to collaborate with others elsewhere in the
world and they can locate and access their needed e-resources in the university
libraries, the reason it becomes necessary Nigerian university libraries have
been shifting their preferences from print to electronic resources.
Electronic resources are increasingly available in
university libraries, thereby making it possible for students to access and use
current and relevant literature for studies and research. Over the last decade,
a significant transformation has been noticed in collection development
policies and practices. Print medium is quickly giving way to the electronic
form of materials. In an electronic library (or e-library), resources are
stored and made available in digital forms, and the services of the library are
also made available electronically. These services are made available
frequently over the Internet so that users can access electronic materials
remotely. This refers to electronic services (or e-services) which most
libraries are trying to embrace in the digital environment. As libraries
embrace the digital environment, their most crucial role is not that of
providing e-library resources, but of establishing services that facilitate
access to available information.
E-library resources, as defined by Case et al. (2004), 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 (WWW), CD-ROM databases, etcetera. The electronic resources could either
be subscribed to or be digitized in-house. It is true that the library has long
been perceived as a building with walls filled with books for reading, but as
Issa (2003) notes, librarianship as a profession came into existence to
preserve and make widely accessible the records of human experience, much of
which have been captured in electronic form. The emergence of Information
Technology (IT) has recreated the face of librarianship and has helped the
profession to further its purpose. In fact, IT has permeated evenly into our
daily activities and as Okerulu (2003) states, it has created limitless
opportunities for open access to information.
These opportunities cannot be harnessed where there
is lack of the requisite information literacy on the part of the users, the
undergraduate students in this case, to do so. To a large extent, the use of
e-library resources is influenced by the level of information literacy skills
as well as other related skills possessed by the users. University
undergraduates, being the major population that is been served by the
university library require the necessary skills with which to use computers,
the internet as well as other information-centric electronic devices. Where
this is absent or inadequate, the availability of e-library resources will be
of little or no impact on their academics and their use of the library. Beyond
this, university undergraduates need to be encouraged by their lecturers to use
e-resources for references to enable students to use and locate these resources.
This may increase the number of students acquiring the necessary information
retrieval skills. If students are not encouraged to use electronic resources by
their lecturers, and if information skills training occur outside the
curriculum, they will be less likely to make use of electronic resources for
academic purposes. This calls for the university library to put in place more
effective strategies in its sensitization and training of end-users.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
To excel academically, university undergraduates need
information for a variety of academic-related activities and the library should
have a vast collection of electronic resources that can meet any of these
purposes. In the 21st century where information explosion has become more of a
challenge than an advantage, information users are faced with challenge of
using these resources effectively and responsibly. This is because, effective
and responsible use of information requires information literacy and as such,
where there is lack of the skills required to use e-library resources, the
benefits cannot be harnessed. Dadzie (2008) stated that studies have shown that
research effort on university undergraduates’ information literacy skills are
lopsided towards lack and how to develop such skills. This has inevitably
created a gap in knowledge as regards how the lack of information literacy skills and how it affects the effective use of
e-library resources among undergraduate students. This study therefore aims to
address this gap in knowledge.
1.3 Objectives
of the Study
The
overall objective of this research is to study the influence of information
literacy skills on the use of e-library resources by part-time undergraduate
students in Ambrose Alli University. The specific objectives are to:
i.
ascertain the e-library resources that are
available at the Ambrose Alli University library
ii.
identify the level of information
literacy skills possessed by part-time undergraduate students of Ambrose Alli
University
iii.
investigate how part-time undergraduate
students of Ambrose Alli University acquire their information literacy skills
iv.
find out the influence of part-time undergraduate
students’ information literacy skills on their use of e-library resources
v.
find out the challenges part-time undergraduate
students of Ambrose Alli University encounter in accessing and using e-library
resources.
1.4 Research
Questions
i.
What are the e-library resources that
are available at the Ambrose Alli University library?
ii.
What is the level of information
literacy skills possessed by part-time undergraduate students of Ambrose Alli
University?
iii.
How do part-time undergraduate students of
Ambrose Alli University acquire their information literacy skills?
iv.
What are the effects of part-time undergraduate
students’ information literacy skills on their use of e-library resources?
v.
To identify the challenges part-time undergraduate
students of Ambrose Alli University encounter in accessing and using e-library
resources?
1.5 Scope
of the Study
The scope of this study is limited to part-time undergraduate
students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. This study focuses on studying the
influence of information literacy skills on the use of e-library resources by part-time
university undergraduate students.
1.6 Significance of the Study
Information literacy is a set of
skills required by a person to find, retrieve, analyze and use information.
Information literacy is directly linked with lifelong learning, critical
thinking, and learning to learn concepts of education. Information literate
individuals improve the society's quality of life in general and academically.
Information literacy skills are of prime importance in order to achieve every
body's academic goals. Truly information literacy is the foundation of a literate
society.
This study will be of benefit to library management,
education policy makers, researchers as well as students. For library
management, this study will serve as an eye-opener towards the need to provide
up-to-date user education and information literacy skills training and
development to students especially in the use of electronic resources as this
will in the long run positively affect their use of the library’s electronic
resources. Education policy makers will find the recommendations from the present
study useful in the area of curriculum development towards ensuring that
students are encouraged to develop information literacy skills that will be of
benefit to them even beyond school. For researchers, this study will serve as a
reference point for researchers carrying out similar or related research.
Finally, this study will be of importance to students by highlighting in clear
terms, the need for them to acquire and develop information literacy skill so
as to have access to and make judicious use of the library’s electronic
resources for their own benefit.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
The problem of time
constraints was a challenge as the time used to undertake the study was
limited. As a result of other academic activities, limited time was made
available for the study. One other form of limitation was in the area of
finance as the research required substantial amount of funds to see it through
to the end especially in the aspects of production of questionnaires to cover a
substantial number of prospective respondents and for mobility during the
period and for the purpose of the research.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
Some technical terms used in the
course of this research need clarification through definition for the purpose
of good understanding of this work. These definitions are only limited to the
context of this study.
Influence:
The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of
someone or something, or the effect itself.
Information Literacy:
The ability of being able to identify information sources, access information,
evaluate it, and use it effectively and efficiently.
Information Literacy Skills:
The set of skills required to identify information sources, access information,
evaluate it, and use it effectively, efficiently, and ethically.
E-Library: The
electronic or online library where one can have access to books, journals, novels,
articles, or any other information in electronic format.
E-Library Resources: A
collection of information-bearing resources kin organized electronic form,
available
Undergraduate Student: A university student who has not yet obtained a first degree.
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