ABSTRACT
The introduction of new technologies has had
a significant influence on teaching, learning and research activities in
universities. This has offered university libraries opportunities to provide
information resources in a variety of formats. Studies have indicated that
e-resources are underutilized in university libraries despite their immense
benefits to users. This study investigated the influence of information
literacy skills and computer self-efficacy on postgraduate students’ use of
e-resources in private university libraries in Nigeria.
The study adopted the survey research design.
The study population comprised 2,805postgraduate students in five private
universities offering postgraduate programmes in South-West, Nigeria.
Multistage sampling technique was used in the selection process. A purposive
selection off our faculties/schools from each of the five universities was
carried out. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select the sample
size of 550 postgraduate students as the respondents for the study. A validated
questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. The Cronbach’s alpha
values for the constructs ranged from 0.80 to 0.94. The response rate was 88%. Data
were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression.
Findings revealed that
there was a significant positive correlation between information literacy
skills and the use of e-resources (r = 0.28, p<0.05). Computer self-efficacy
was also found to have a positive correlation with the use of e-resources (r =
0.26, p<0.05). There was a significant joint influence of information
literacy skills and computer self-efficacy on the use of e-resources(F(2 : 492) = 22.13; R = .29, R2
= 0.09, Adj. R2
= 0.08; P <
.05).
The
study concluded that the utilization of e-resources promoted access to current
information among postgraduate students in the selected private universities in
South-West, Nigeria. The study recommended that
the management of private university libraries should ensure a continuous
provision of e-resources with adequate information communication technology
tools to facilitate their use. The study also recommended that the management
of private university libraries should promote the teaching of information
literacy skills and computer self-efficacy to postgraduate students in private
universities to improve the use of e-resources as well as improve the quality
of their academic work.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
University
libraries are known for providing resources to meet the information needs of
those within the university community.Thus, they play supportive role to the
university education by providing necessary information resources and services,
to ensure that the needs, expectations and aspirations of their users are
satisfied. In the past, most university libraries
provided information in print format such
as print textbooks, newspapers, monographs, magazines and so on, but with the
advancement in technology, most libraries have expanded their collections to
include electronic resources abbreviated as e-resources. The Anglo- American
Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition (AACR2, 2005:p.1) defined an electronic
resource as “material (data and/or program(s)) encoded for manipulation by a
computerized device. This material may require the use of a peripheral directly
connected to a computerized device (e.g.,
CD-ROM drive) or a connection to a computer network (e.g., the Internet)”. The
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA,
2012:p.3) definede-resources as “materials
that require computer access, whether
through a personal computer, mainframe, or handheld mobile device”. From the
definitions, it can be deduced that electronic resources require the knowledge
and use of computers.
Electronic resources are
materials that are available and can be accessed electronically through such
computer networked facilities as online library catalogues, the Internet and
the World Wide Web, digital libraries and archives, government portals and
websites, CD-ROM databases, online academic databases, such as Medline or
commercial databases such as LexisNexis (Karunarathna, 2014). Electronic resources are any collection of
information created electronically that form part of an electronic record and
that is usually stored separately within the digital file making up the
electronic record as a whole. Every electronic record consists of at least one
digital object , component or element, such as the bits of data that come
together to create a word processed document.
For
most university libraries, the provision of e-resources has become increasingly
important due to the demands of the 21st-century
information users who want to find the technologies they are used to outside of
the library, in the library. It is,
therefore, no longer novel to find electronic encyclopedias,
newspapers, books, journals, theses and
dissertations,CD-ROM databases,
online databases and web-based resources in libraries. The use of electronic
resources no doubt has myriad advantages for libraries as users can now access
information resources across the globe without restriction which was
practically impossible in the past. Lending credence to this view, Dadzie
(2007) noted that e-resources provide access to information that might otherwise, be restricted to users due to
geographical location or finance constraints as well as to extensive links to
additional resources having related contents. University libraries, can, therefore, go beyond the information
resources present in the physical library to enable access to information in
remote servers. In university community
where students are mostly engaged in
research activities, the provision of e-resources becomes important considering
that the resources contain frequently updated information.
The
provision of electronic resources in university libraries plays a prominent
role in facilitating access to required information by the users in an easy and
quick manner. Electronic information resources, in reality have become
essential in the academic environment. They serve as motivating factor to
students as they provide them opportunity to transmit, acquire or download,
process and disseminate information on any subject of interest. Electronic
resources provision makes it possible for users to access new tools and
applications for information seeking and retrieval. E-resources have become
invaluable research tools that complement the print collection in the
traditional library setting. These resources serve as veritable sources of information which
students could tap into to aid their class assignments, write research and term
papers, search for information on their subject areas and so on.
Due
to the several advantages of e-resources such as timeliness, search facilities,
remote access and up datedness,they become more indispensable after the arrival
of the Internet in the academic environment.The provision of e-resources in
tertiary institutions of learning are new ways of gaining quick access to a
great number of research information and dissemination globally. As a result of
the potential benefits offered by e-resources, they have been embraced by
university libraries. Students, especially those at the postgraduate level would
benefit from the e-resources if they are well harnessed as they will provide
excellent opportunities to access scholarly information which are beyond the
reach of libraries due to geographical barrier and limited finances.
Once electronic resources
are provided by university libraries, it is expected that students
utilize them to justify the investment on
such resources. Unlike the federal and state universities in Nigeria which are
funded with public money, and which enjoy certain privileges such as the
Educational Trust Fund (ETF) which seeks to improve the quality of education in
Nigeria through a 2% education tax imposed on the profits of all registered
companies and banks in Nigeria and library consortium such as the Nigerian
Research and Education Network (NgREN) to which 27 federal universities are
currently members (Nigerian Research and Education Network,2016). Private universities,
on the other hand, depend mostly on subvention from their proprietors and other
internally generated revenue (IGR). In most cases, where funds are made
available, the allocation is shared through an agreed upon formula unique to
each university which may or may not be
favourable to the university library.
Although most university libraries (public or private)
spend money in the acquisition of electronic resources, some libraries devote
man-hours to harvesting free electronic resources online with the goal of
increasing access and use of electronic resources. However, irrespective of
what libraries are able to provide, the utilisation
of a product or service is very important as it shows the value attached
to such product or service. On the other
hand, when a service or product is unutilized, it indicates that there is a
problem with it. In such situations, it is necessary for library management to critically review the product or service.
Use, therefore, becomes a standard for measuring the worth of a library’s
product or service. Little wonder then,
that some studies have been dedicated to
investigating the use of electronic resources in libraries (Egberongbe, 2011;
Ajayi, 2014; Islam, 2015; Daramola, 2016).
In
the United Kingdom (UK), Ray and Jay (1998) examined
students’ use of electronic resources in three universities and found that
alarge number of the students use e-resources.
For instance, in Saudi Arabia, a similar study came out witha similar conclusion. A lot of researches have
been carried out in the area of availability and utilization of electronic
resources in Nigerian University libraries (Ozoemelem, 2009; Deng, 2010;
Madhusudhan, 2010; Egberongbe, 2011; Komolafe-Opadeji, 2011 and Ndubisi and
Udo, 2013;Okite-Amughoro, Makgahlela and Bopape,
2014; Abubakar & Adetimirin, 2015) and majority of these studies found low
frequency of use of e-resources. The findings of these studiesgive credence to
a major survey of literature carried out by Tenopir (2003) which concluded by
noting that while the use of electronic resources by students in developed
countries is well-recognised, their use in the less developed countries is
still in its infancy. Several reasons such as low bandwidth, erratic power
supply, inadequate provision of computers, lack of information literacy skills
and low computer self-efficacy were reported to attribute to the low frquency
of utilisation of electronic resources in developing countries by the authors.The
Internet and various forms of web-enabled technologies are growing
exponentially, and many more’ pieces of information are becoming digitized in
computers. All these, are to assist students, especially postgraduate students
in their learning and research activities.Students
are expected to use e-resources while at the university to improve the quality
of their academic work. To be successful in the useof the available
e-resources, students need to acquire and practice the skills necessary to explore them.Therefore, for
effective information search to be achieved by postgraduate students, computer
literacy is crucial.
Information literacy skills refer to knowledge of one's
information needs, and the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and
effectively create, use and communicate information (The Association of College
and Research Libraries, 2000). It is required for active participation in the information
society. Indeed, the University
of Idaho (2011)clearly stated that “not all information is created equal: some are authoritative,
current, reliable, but some are biased, out of date, misleading, false; the
amount of information available is going to keep increasing and the types of
technology used to access, manipulate, and create information will likewise
expand”. To make the best out of the ever-growing list of electronic resources,
it is therefore, necessary for users to acquire basic information literacy
skills necessary for the identification, retrieval and use of electronic
resources.
The
importance of information literacy skills to postgraduate students cannot be overemphasized because they enable the effective and efficient use of the electronic
resources. These skills help users formulate
a search, identify appropriate information sources, to select the right search
tools, to employ suitable search strategies as well as enabling them to
evaluate the searched results. Information
literate people will thus, demonstrate an
awareness of how they gather, use, manage,synthesizeand create information in
an ethical manner and will have the information skills to do so effectively (SCONUL
Working Group on Information Literacy, 2011). For today’s learners,
information literacy promotes problem solving approaches and thinking skills in
asking questions and seeking answers, finding information, forming opinions,
evaluating sources and making decisions, fostering successful learners,
effective contributors, confident individuals and responsible citizens.
Determining the
credibility of information in the present age where information is produced in
a large volume is imperative to making appropriate use of information. Due to
theincrease in the volume of information,information users require the search
skills to effectively explore the available information. To make effective use
of the increasing resources, there is a need for information users to overcome
information anxiety and as well explore the available information to enable
them interprets and utilizes information for problem-solving.
The American Library Association (2000) stressed that information literacy is
required in the information age that is characterizedby technological
advancement. Information users are now encumbered with several information
which they are to make selection from. It stressed that information users must
possess the ability to ascertain the authenticity and usability of the
information they find. Information literacy is required to navigate the rapidly
growing information which encompasses an increasing number of information
suppliers as well as the amount supplied, and includes bodies of professional
literature, popular media, libraries, the Internet, and more. This abundant
information is of little help to those who do not possess the skills to search
and utilize information appropriately. Information literacy skills are
necessary for studentswho want to effectively utilize the available electronic
resources as they provide necessary base for learning other skills which are
required to explore electronic resources.
The concept of
information literacy requires that a personrecognizes when information is
needed,have the ability to find, scrutinize, utilize and then useinformation
ethically to addressidentified problems or to make decisions. This is so
because, whatever the source of
information is,users must possess the skill to understand and critically evaluate
the information they find. The need to train students, especially postgraduate
students to be information literate is recognized worldwide since it is not
possible for them to search and utilize needed information without adequate
skills to navigate and manipulate information technologies. For some of
the postgraduate students who have
gained employments usually face the challenge of coping with their jobs
alongside their research activities. To be effective at their job and at the
same time perform well in their research work, there is a need for them to
strive to possess the skills required to use the e-resources provided by the
university library since they are faster to use.
Considering
the complexity associated with the use of electronic resources, students
require information literacy skills to access and use information. The growth
in literature, its volume, variety and
complexity has put severe constraints on the users search for their needed
information. The complexity of electronic resources has also led to the tedious
search, which further discouraged the students in using library resources. Although most postgraduate students can be said to own
a laptop, iPad or mobile phone which exposes them to the use of technology, the
use of such electronic devices do not guarantee knowledge of information
literacy skills needed to access web-based resources or electronic databases in
the library. The acquisition of information literacy skills isessential for students, especially
postgraduate students in order to
evaluate and make ethical use of information. This would not only give value to
the result of their research work but also ensure that they do not engage in
copying and pasting which has come to characterize students’ use of online
resources(Trip, 2010).
The
ability to use e-resources effectively is increasingly becoming recognized as
integral part of students study and a great concern to university libraries.Thelack of information literacy skills constitute
an hindrance to the use of electronic resources by students and this lower the
quality of their academic performance in the technology era (Kodani, 2012; Ivana, 2016). To fully maximize
the potentials of electronic resources, there is need for computer literacy. This is
necessary considering that searching in the
electronic environment requires knowledge of the structure of databases and
requires instructions which must be input into the computer by the
searcher.Since e-resources are technology
dependent, there is, therefore, theneedfor computer self-efficacy.
The
use of electronic information resources in education offers a new tool capable
of changing some of the existing methods. To effectively adopt and use the wide
growing electronic resources for academic performance, students must
demonstrate self confidence in their abilities to utilize the computer-based
resources. This is so because, as the importance of computers and Internet
grows, people may experience negative emotions in actual or anticipated
interactions with computers. These negative emotions take the form of fear, anxiety,
hostility, and resilience in both psychology and behaviour, inhibiting the best
use of computer-based resources. Computer self-efficacy is an essential factor
to consider in terms of use of e-resources which are computer-based. Perceived
high computer self-efficacy is more likely to increase the use of a computer
and decrease an individual’s computer anxiety.
Self-efficacy as
a concept was propounded by Bandura (1977) who opined that success is not only based on
the possession of necessary skills, but also on the confidence to use skills
effectively. Self-efficacy is the confidence that one can successfully perform a task. Self-efficacy,
therefore, can be termed as an inherent belief that motivates a person to
accomplish given task based on positive self-assessment. The term self-efficacy
helps in understanding why individuals decide to focus on particular activities
and the degree of effort they exert on such activities. Self-efficacy is the
belief that an individual has the confidence and the ability to perform the
courses of actions needed to respond to a given situation in which he has
received training. Self-efficacy is an important construct for students,
particularly at the postgraduate level as Bandura (1997, p. 82) affirmed that
“People who doubt their efficacy are more likely to view repeated success as
products of laborious effort than as evidence of their own capability, whereas
self-assured people believe more highly in their capabilities following similar
successes”. In other words, people with low self-efficacy, even when they are
able to accomplish a task, see it as “laborious effort” or struggle, rather
than attributing it to their ability which makes the task unappealing, hence, a
tendency to stay away from performing such duties. On the other hand, those
with high self-efficacy, attribute success to their ability, thereby making
them confident and willing to pursue similar exercise.
In the use of computers,
individual can also display a level of self-efficacy, those with low self –confidence
or self- efficacy may likely shy away from the use of computers. Even when they
do, they may likely see it as a laborious exercise, whereas, even when computer
skills are not perfect, the individual
with high self-efficacy may be pushed to keep using the computer, believing
that he or she is capable of utilising it, thereby, enhancing personal skills
through practice. With this belief
also comes the motivation to utilisethecomputer.
Students with high computer self-efficacy are more likely than others to
explore new technologies, software or databases. In the use of
electronic resources, it can, therefore,
be assumed that students with high computer self-efficacy would be more likely
to take advantage of e-resources when compared to students with low computer
self-efficacy, as the later may lack the confidence or shy away from using
computer-based resources.
The
electronic nature of electronic resources, however, demands that users be
confident and skilled in the use of computers. These skills include but are not
limited to knowledge of imputing data, organizing and managing files,
describing basic computer functions, familiarity with computer software
packages and the ability to navigate the World Wide Web. Considering all these,
Ray and Day (1998) pointed out that the skills required to access e-resources
are much greater than those required for searching print resources. Users of
electronic resources, no doubt, must have a firm belief in their ability to
carry out computer related task in order to effectively retrieve and utilize
electronic resources.
A
strong sense of efficacy in the use of computer enhances performance with the
use of e-resources among students. While this may be so, the study such as
Oluwaseye and Abraham (2013) which investigated the use of e-resources by students in higher
institutions in Oyo state reported low patronage of e-resources by majority of
the respondents due to lack of computer skills. Furthermore, the study revealedlow usage of databases by the students thereby
affirming the link between use of electronic resources and the skills to use a
computer which is a necessary skill for postgraduate students who are regularly engaged in research.
Researchers have proposed that positive
attitude towards computers and high computer self-efficacy and lower computer
anxiety levels are important factors to help people learn computer skills and
use computers in higher education (Smith, 2001; Sam, Othman & Nordin, 2005;
Nina, 2008; Lunenburg, 2011) . Computer self-efficacy is the belief in one's
ability to perform a desired outcome
using a computer. There is much support from literature that computer
self-efficacy is a valuable indicator of whether or not students will
utilizethe computer-based information resources. Moersh (2010) whose study
investigated the acceptance of Eduweb TV innovation, found that teacher’s
confidence, especially teacher self-efficacy is a significant factor in
determining the ability of teachers to
integrate technology in teaching.
As it applies to
computer self-efficacy, one's choice, effort
and persistence in using computer technology is influenced by one's level of
computer self-efficacy. Computer self-efficacy is an important factor that
influences e-resources utilization in the technological world (Aşkar&Umay,
2001). Computer self-efficacy is associated with attitudes toward computer
technologies. The extent to which a person demonstrates confidence in the use
of a computer can also determine the
extent to which he will use e-resources since the resources are accessed via
computers.
Postgraduate
students are those students who are undertaking graduate studies after
obtaining a first degree or its equivalent. At the postgraduate level, engaging in research activity or a research
project can be an integral part of a course unit. Unlike students at the
undergraduate level, postgraduate
students are often required
to present class seminars on relevant course topics thereby, increasing their
demand for the use of electronic resources. According to Washington-Hoagland
et al. (2002), postgraduate students are
an important user group to explore, because they are more likely to make
significant contributions to their fields. Considering the research needs of postgraduate students, it, therefore, becomes necessary for university libraries to make
adequate information in print and electronic formats to meet their needs.
As
libraries situated within universities, university
libraries are expected to provide effective
information services that would enhance teaching, learning, and research within
the university community. Research in
particular is crucial to the survival of universities being the fundamental
process of knowledge acquisition. For teachers, to impart knowledge, they must
engage in research to deepen their understanding of concepts and for students
to learn, there is also the need to conduct research, with the view of seeking
and identifying solutions to problems. Research is essential within the university environment as it serves as a major
determinant of the educational quality of an institution. Azad and Seyyed (2007) maintained that high research profile adds to institutional
reputation, visibility, and recognition.To
carry out research, there is need for extensive literature search which brings students
particularly, postgraduate students to rely on the electronic resources
provided by the university library. Indeed,the introduction of electronic
information resources in libraries in Nigeria will facilitate access to vast
collections of digital books and electronic journals for postgraduate students.
The
idea of private university education system in Nigeria was born out of the
quest for quality higher education as there is a general decrease in the
standard of education in the public university system. In the Nigerian context,
a wide range of experiences, revolve around the combination of internal and
external driving forces of the private surge in higher education. Obasi (2007)
enumerated such internal driving forces to include the inability of public
universities to cope with increasing demands for admission; inability of the
governments to fund expansion; the concomitant falling standards in public
universities; frequent closures and unstable academic calendar due to staff and
students’ unrest among many others. According to the author, the external driving forces are rooted in the
prevailing neo-liberal economic policies, globalization, and the information
and communication technology (ICT) revolution, all of which have affected
higher education worldwide.
In
recent years, the Nigerian university system has been going through a fundamental transformation which is
evident in the number of existing private universities and student enrollment.
Private universities are providing additional opportunities to prospective
candidates who could not gain entry into the public universities with many of
the private universities introducing new courses of study which are either not
available or are not well funded in public universities. Proprietors of private
universities have been more alert to the demands of the labour market and
parents for exotic courses that public universities might be unwilling to
introduce for their novelty or cost. This transformation is geared towards
expanding access, promoting and ensuring quality and increasing institutional
efficiency and thereby be responsive and relevant towards the production of
qualitative, globally competitive entrepreneurial and self-reliant graduates
(NUC 2005).
Private
universities came into existence in
Nigeria on April 20, 1999, with the
granting of licenses by the Federal Government of Nigeria to three universities
to operate as private universities (Osagie, 2009). They are: Babcock
University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State; Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State
and Madona University, Okija, Anambra State (National Universities Commission
NUC, www.nuc.edu.ng 2012). By 2004, the total number of private universities in
the country had reached eight (8), while it increased to 34 in 2008 and 50 in
2012 (NUC www.nuc.edu.ng 2012). Since then, the number of private universities in Nigeria has grown to 69, out of
which 15 have been approved to run postgraduate programmes,
National Universities Commission (NUC) (2015). Among the universities with
NUC’s approval to run postgraduate programmes,
nine are from South-West, Nigeria, which
comprised of six (6) states, namely: Lagos,Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti
states.
A common goal unifying private
universities in South-West, Nigeria is their quest to providing quality
education for students at all levels of university education. The purpose of
higher education is to prepare students for their future. To achieve this goal,
libraries in private universities must be equipped with electronic resources to
satisfy the information needs of students especially postgraduate students.
Likewise, students must also endeavour to equip themselves with information
literacy and computer skills necessary for the exploitation of electronic
resources. This is so because, the skills that have become increasingly
important in the pursuance of higher education will affect both how students
manipulate the growing electronic resources and the way the resources are used
for learning. In other words, the level of the ICT skills possessed by
postgraduate students will determine their level of usage of e-resources in the information age.With
the availability of ICT facilities in most university libraries, postgraduate students who possess information
search skills as well as skills to manipulate computerswould find it easy to
search, locate, evaluate and use information to meet their information needs in
the libraries.This
study, therefore, examinedinformation literacy skills, computer self-efficacy
and the use of e-resources by postgraduate students of private universities in
South-West, Nigeria.
1.2 Statement of the
Problem
In Nigeria,the university system is advancing
as new technologies are being introduced into teaching, learning and research
activities. On their part, university libraries must support the mission of the
university through the provision of information resources in a variety of
formats including electronic format.
While the provision of electronic resources in libraries no doubt has myriad
advantages as it enables access to current information at the right time and in
the right place, provides the opportunity to search several files at a time and
so on, it also presents a lot of challenges as it is computer-based and
requires information literacy for searching, retrieval,
and use.
Literature has revealedthat electronic resources are grossly underutilized despite the huge investment made
by university libraries to ensure their provision.Shaibu
and Mohammed (2017) observed that considerable investments are being tailored
toward acquiring e-resources in Nigerian universities bringing up the issue of
the extent of usage and users’ satisfaction with these resources in these libraries.
Studies by Olawaseye and Abraham (2013), Abubakar and Adetimirin
(2015),Egberongbe (2011) and Sharma (2009) revealed that practical uses of
e-resources are not up to the worth in comparison to investments made in
acquiring these resources.The
underutilization of e-resources could be attributed to lack of information
literacy which limits the ability to effectively locate and make ethical use of
needed information or low computer self-efficacy which could hinder the zeal
for making use of computer-based
technologies.
Where such is the case, libraries in private
universities which do not receive any form of financial assistance from the
government would find it difficult justifying the investment on electronic
resources and their contribution towards achieving the goals of the library. At
the
same time, postgraduate students would also be missing out in research
materials that would have otherwise improved the quality of their research work
thereby lowering the standard of research
work and contribution to the society as a whole.
It is against this background that this study
investigated the extent to which information literacy skills and
computer self-efficacy could influence e-resources utilization by postgraduate
students in private
universities in South-West, Nigeria.
1.3 Objective of the
Study
The main objective of this study is to
investigate the influence of information literacy skills and computer self-efficacy on the use of e-resources by
postgraduate students of private universities in South-West, Nigeria. The
specific objectives are to:
1. find out the purpose(s)of use of e-resources bypostgraduate
students in private universities in
South-West, Nigeria;
2. determine
thefrequency ofuse of e-resources by postgraduate students in private
universities in South-West, Nigeria;
3. ascertain thelevel of information literacy
skills of postgraduate students in
private universities in South-West,
Nigeria;
4. find
out the level ofcomputer self-efficacy of postgraduate
students in private universities in
South-West, Nigeria;
5. determine
the relationship between information literacy skills and e-resources use by postgraduate students in private universities in South-West, Nigeria;
6. ascertain the relationship between computer
self-efficacy and e-resources use bypostgraduate
students in private universities in
South-West, Nigeria and
7. determine
the combined influence of information literacy skills and computer
self-efficacy on use of e-resources by postgraduate
students in private universities in
South-West, Nigeria
1.3 Research Questions
The study provided answers to the following
research questions:
1. For
what purposedo postgraduate students in
private universities in South-West, Nigeria use e-resources?
2. What
is the frequency of use of e-resources by postgraduate students in private
universities in South-West, Nigeria?
3. What
is the level of information literacy skills of postgraduate
students in private universities in
South-West, Nigeria?
4. What
is the level of computer self-efficacy of postgraduate students in private
universities in South-West, Nigeria?
1.4 Hypotheses
Thestudy was guided by the following null hypotheses:
H01.
There is no significant relationship between information literacy skills and e-
resourcesuse by postgraduate students in private
universities in South-West,
Nigeria
H02.
There is no significant relationship between computer self-efficacy and e-resources
useamong
postgraduate students in private universities in South-West, Nigeria
H03.
The combination of information literacy skills and computer self-efficacydoes not
have
a significantinfluence on e-resources use
among postgraduate students in
privateuniversitiesinSouth-West, Nigeria.
1.5 Significance of the Study
A critical review of literature in the field of library and
information science, particularly in the
aspect of the factors that influence
e-resources utilization by university students, reveals that much has
been done. However, there is dearth of
literature and empirical research on the influence of information literacy skills and computer
self-efficacy on e-resources utilization by postgraduate students in private
universities in South-West, Nigeria. The study, therefore
would no doubt, contribute to the body of literature in e-resources usage which
wouldassist other researchers in the field of Library and Information Science
and other related fields.
This
study is consideredsignificant because it
would reveal the extent to which postgraduate
students in private universities make use
of electronic resources thereby, providing a guide for library administrators
in decision making. The findings would also make known the relationship that exists between computer self-efficacy,
information literacy skills and use of e-resources which would guide librarians
in formulating instructional programmes aimed at enhancing information literacy
and computer self-efficacy for the exploitation of e-resources. The results of the study would also help
postgraduate students realize the benefit of e-resources utilization in
learning environment and the need to acquire the basic skills needed for their
effective utilization.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The
scope of this study was limited to
electronic resources that are alternatives to print information resources such
as e-books, e-journals, Internet, OPAC, online databases, and CD-ROMs.The
variables that were covered in this work are information literacy skills,
computer self-efficacy and use of electronic resources. The areas such
asability to: identify, locate, select, evaluate use/apply information were
considered under information literacy skills while under computer self-efficacy
areassuch as: confidence in ability to: organize data using a computer,
organize and manage files, use software packages, describe basic computer
functionswereconsidered. The study did not include application software such as
word processors and spreadsheets.
Likewise, all non-print materials in libraries that are not accessible using
computers were excluded from this study.
Although
the study focused on private universities
offering postgraduate programmesin South-West, Nigeria, only the private
universities that have graduated at least one set of postgraduate students were
used for the study.The criteria for the selection is based on the fact that
private universities that have graduated at least a set of postgraduate
students must have subscribedand grown their collection of e-resources to adequately support
postgraduate research.
This
study coveredprivate university libraries
in the South-West, Nigeria. This geopolitical zone was selected for the
study because it has sufficient number of private universities that provide
electronic resources for theirstudents via their libraries.
1.7: Operational Definition of Terms
Information Literacy: In
the context of this study, ‘information literacy’ would be taken to mean a set of abilities requiring individuals to
"recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate,
evaluate, and use effectively the needed information” as defined by the
American Library Association (ALA). This definition is found suitable for the
purpose of this study and would beadopted for the same.
Self-efficacy:
This would refer to the beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute
the courses of action required to produce given attainments.
Computer Self-Efficacy:
Computer
self-efficacy would be taken to mean the beliefs or confidence in an individual’s ability to use a computer. It could be low or high
E-resources: E-resources
would refer to the alternatives of print
information resources in libraries e.g. e-journals, e-book, CD-ROM, Internet, OPAC, Online databases etc,thatare accessible via computers network which are
employed for research, term paper writing and other academic
assignments.
E-resources
Use: In the context of this study, e-resources use would
refer to the adoption and use of e-journals,
e-book, CD-ROM, Internet, OPAC, Online databases
etc, in university libraries by postgraduate students’ consideredin terms of frequency and purpose of use.
Postgraduate Students: These
would mean individuals who are pursuing higher degrees in universities after
obtaining a first degree or its equivalent.
Private Universities: These
refer to universities established and
funded by private individuals or organizations for the purpose of higher
education and award of degrees.
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