Extent of instructional use of e-resources in universities and colleges of education in the north-central states of nigeria

Project Abstract

<p> </p><p><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p><p>The study investigated the extent of the Instructional use of e-resources in Universities and Colleges of Education in the North Central States of Nigeria; made up of Abuja, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau states. It employed a descriptive survey, using 7 research questions, 7 research hypotheses and 30-items research questionnaire instrument. This was validated by experts in the field of Educational Technology, Measurement and Evaluation, Science Education and Curriculum and Instruction, trial tested by administering them to educators in the College of Education Oju and School of Education, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, which were excluded in the main study. The instruments reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha, with an established reliability coefficient of 0.81. Six Universities and six Colleges of education were purposefully sampled for use, based on the established level of availability of e-resources. The population of the study was made up of 3,266 lecturers from Colleges of Education and 385 from the Schools or Faculties of Education in the Universities, giving a total of 3651 lecturers. The sample size of 1042 (260 from five Universities, 782 from five Colleges of Education) was proportionately determined using the Krejele and Morgan table of “determining sample size for research activities”. The instruments for data collection were a 30-item structured research questionnaire with sections A to D for Computer Assisted Instruction; Compurter Enriched Instruction; instructional use of Internet Resources and Portable e-Resources respectively. A Focused Group Discussion (FGD) instrument was employed on the research outcome, to probe into the respondents’ subconscious feelings and motivations to capture the dynamic emotional process and socially desirable forms of behaviour which could have not been easily reduced to statistical evaluations and reported by items along each research question and hypothesis. It was discovered that CAI, CEI, Internet Resources and Portable e-Resources are moderately used in the area of study. And that status rank, gender and age have no influence on the e-resources use. Recommendations were made, including that; Government should (1) make policy that will direct the integration of e-resources in the learning process; (2) Provide adequate course wares or contract for their production in subject areas; (3) Review curriculum to integrate e-learning in the learning process; (4) Provide Internet RAIN at reduced cost, increased accessibility, larger bandwidth for instruction use; (5) set relevant committee to assess the extent of the negative effects Nigeria as a country stands to face for not fully embracing e-resources use in her educational system and recommend emergency measures to redeem the situation; (6) make ICT a line budget in all her yearly budget allocations; (7) Host e-learning Africa and other conferences to increase educators participation; Curriculum and Educational Technology specialist should develop appropriate format for e-learning andragogy and pedagogy.</p> <br><p></p>

Project Overview

<p><br></p><p><b>CHAPTER ONE</b></p> <p><b>1.0 </b><b>INTRODUCTION:</b></p> <p><b><br> 1.1 Background of the Study:</b></p> <p><b><br> </b>The 21st Century has experienced a remarkable proliferation of electronic resources &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(e-resources) which have tremendously change the information seeking attitude of students and researchers globally. In recent times, electronic resources have been identified as the major sources for information dissemination in the universities, especially for researchers (Lefuna, 2017). The term electronic resources is seen by Sharma (2009) as library's information materials that are in electronic form which include electronic books (e-books); electronic newspapers (enewspapers); electronic journals (e-journals) as well as Internet resources. E-resources also consist of databases, magazines, archives, theses, conference papers, government papers, scripts and monographs in an electronic form (Deng, 2010). MEDLINE, Science Direct, AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture), HINARI, OARE (Online Access to Research in the Environment), LexisNexis, Ebscohost are examples of databases (Ani and Edem, 2012).<br> According to Graham (2003) the term “electronic resources” appear not to be used consistently; they may be referred to as electronic information resources (EIR), electronic information resources and electronic library resources. Digital resources, digital materials and soft library resources are other terminologies used for electronic information resources.<br> The importance of electronic resources to students and University libraries cannot be over<br> emphasized. They offer both undergraduate and postgraduate students the chance to access<br> relevant and current information from different subject areas. The emergence of electronic<br> resources, according to Ani and Edem (2012), has tremendously transformed the handling and management of information in Nigerian academic environments and university libraries in particular. Availability of electronic information resources refers to readily access to information in<br> electronic format with little or no stress to the library user. Availability of electronic information resources in the library is not just enough, users must know of their existence to be able to use them effectively; and to put to use what’s available, users must possess requisite skills that will enable them to exploit these resources and services. Availability at any time of the day; ``hyperlinks to other resources; huge information reservoirs; quick information; various search<br> options; easy citations; ease in uploading and updating; ease in storage and dissemination;<br> flexibility; time, space and cost are not major hurdles; ease of archiving are also importance of information resources as noted by Tekale and Dalve (2012). Also, electronic resources reduce pressure on academic libraries for physical storage space for books and journals and provide unlimited access to users (Lefuna, 2017).<br> Availability of electronic information sources relates to the provision for and inclusion of the resources in the collection of the libraries at the disposal of users in academic institutions. In the words of Roberts (2005) availability of electronic resources provides access to authoritative, reliable, accurate and timely access to information. In addition to this, the resources can enable<br> innovation in teaching and increase timeliness in research.<br> The National Universities Commission (NUC), a government agency in Nigeria, subscribed toa number of international and local journals and made them accessible in Nigerian Universities through its URL link (<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nigerianvirtuallibrary.com">www.nigerianvirtuallibrary.com</a>) on the internet. Also, NUC, NULIB (Nigerian University Libraries Consortium) and eifl.net (Electronic Information for Libraries Network) are partnering to provide electronic resources towards teaching, learning and research<br> in Nigerian Universities (Okiki, 2012). National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), according to Egbe (2014), is developing ICT in Nigerian tertiary institutions through<br> the National Virtual Library Project by setting up virtual libraries and donation of computers and/or internet facilities. Electronic resources, in most universities, are integral part of the electronic library and stand as<br> vital academic resources that support teaching, learning and research activities (Zhang &amp; Liu, 2011). electronic resources are invaluable research tools for students in higher institution of learning. In academia, electronic resources are dominating the research activities of researchers; researchers have realized the importance of such resources (Hadagali, Kumbar, Nelogal &amp; Bachalapur, 2012). Electronic resources provides accurate and timely information,<br> especially for students who depend greatly on the electronic resources for information to<br> advance research and collaboration with other researchers around the world for intellectual<br> growth (Ukpebor, 2012).<br> Research has been recognized as an indispensable tool in the professional development of any organized body or discipline. Research, as Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English as cited by Ugbagir (2010) stated, is an investigation undertaken in order to discover new facts and get additional information. Research provides the students with a unique and enriching<br> activity. The joys of exploration, innovation and creativity are only a few of the experiences<br> students go through when performing research. Research as a concept is a purposeful search for solution to an identified problem or new knowledge. Therefore, research is an inquiry or investigation conducted by students in collaboration with faculty mentor (supervisor) that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline. In this study, research is defined as undergraduate student’s project writing which serve as a basic requirement for the<br> award of Bachelor of Science degree in any discipline (Ugbagir, 2010).<br> The central mission of a library is to collect, organise, preserve and provide access to knowledge<br> and information. In fulfilling this mission, libraries preserve a valuable record of culture that can be passed down to succeeding generations. Libraries are an essential link in this<br> communication between the past, present, and the future (Nwachukwu &amp; Thaddeus, 2015).<br> Library is an indespensable unit or sub-units of any academic institution. Any academic<br> institution that has no functional library is regarded as a dead institution. A libary as a sub-unit<br> of any institution is charged with the responsibilities of selecting, acquiring, processing and<br> disseminating of print and non- print materials to users by experts called librarians who main the place.<br> Historically, the main library arm of the university was established on 1st January, 1988. It later metamorphosed into the University of Agriculture library, Makurdi, from the University of Jos Makurdi Campus and later renamed after the first Vice-Chancellor of the University; Francis<br> Sulemanu Idachaba. The library is housed in its ultra-modern building located around the ring road in the North Core of the University. It has a usable floor area for 1,250 readers. The University library has a centralized organizational structure. The library which was planned to<br> be built in three phases had only the first phase constructed and completed and is now fully<br> occupied and utilized. It is located at the North-Core of the University with a total sitting<br> capacity for 1,200 readers. Currently, the library can seat more than 600 users planned to be accommodated in the first phase of the building. As the heartbeat of the university, the library<br> serves as the educational life-wire of every serious user. In March, 2005, library services was brought to the doorstep of its users through establishment of eight (8) college libraries namely Science, Food Science and Technology, Engineering, Forestry, Management Science and<br> Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Animals Science, Agronomy. However, Colleges of Agriculture<br> Economics and Extension, Agronomy and Agriculture and Science Education are yet to have<br> college libraries. Presently, the university library has about 40,826 volumes of books and 2,542 journals titles. Technical Support for Electronic Sources in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba Library<br> Francis Idachaba Library has ICT unit with three centres namely: undergraduate electronic unit, postgraduate/staff electronic unit and electronic centre. The library has its own server and battery Inverters. Hence, library collections can be accessed even when there is no electricity.<br> The university library has an e- library for students donated by National Rural Information<br> Technology Development Agency (NITDA). It was established with Internet facility for Elearning and library automation. The electronic library is a form of cyber café within the library where students can access the Internet and search for library materials. The university library<br> subscribed to several databases such as AGORA, HINARI, OARE, AJOL, EBSCOhost,<br> JSTOR, Encyclopaedia Britannica, EBSCOhost Professional Development, EMERALD;<br> ACCESS, Science by McGraw Hill, GALE SCIENCE in context and Nigerian Virtual Library.<br> The university library has a website, which linked (7) universities and organizations abroad,<br> namely: Cape Town University, South Africa, Arizona State University, USA, Capilano<br> University, Canada, Higher Education Academy, UK, Yale University, USA, New Jersey<br> Institute Of Technology, USA John Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health, USA Offline Virtual Resources Recently added to the rich resources in the university library is TEEAL. This contains one terabyte (1TB) of information across Agricultural and related fields that are placed on a web server. The LAN is used to access these resources in the e-Library centre within the<br> university library with 45 computer systems. Other downloaded offline resources of about one terabyte covering all educational fields are also available in the same network location.<br> It is often said that the Internet is one of the best success stories of anarchy or even socialism<br> in modern history. The Internet has proven itself to be an example of cooperation between<br> countries, (often competing) commercial entities, government agencies and educational<br> institutions specifically libraries for the sole purpose of enhancing communication. The main aim of any library is to acquire, organize and disseminate information that will assist it to achieve desired objectives. It has been universally acknowledged that the quality of academic output is traceable to the quality of its available information resources therein. The users of a<br> library tend to appreciate these electronic resources if the information they require is timely<br> accessible for utilization as appropriate. Electronic information resources and services have<br> helped libraries to achieve the aforementioned by overcoming the delays that has been<br> established by the use of library’s manual systems. Electronic information resources have to some extent perfected efficiency in information dissemination by providing easy access offline and on the web (Online).<br> However, preliminary observation by the researcher revealed that users of academic libraries are increasingly utilizing electronic information resources as more access points are made available and they have realized the immense potential of accessing and use of electronic<br> information resources and services. Observation by the researcher stand to prove reverse being the case as access and use of electronic information resources in University of Agriculture,<br> makurdi were very low. It could be attributed to the policy issues regarding access and use of electronic information resources in the library.<br> It is therefore against this background that this study was designed to investigate the<br> availability, accessibility and utilization of Electronic Information resources by students for research in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba Library University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue state, Nigeria.</p> <p><br> .<br> <b>1.2 Statement of the Problem:</b></p> <p><b><br> </b>Developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have radically taken over every sphere of activity in university libraries. Academic libraries like the Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library owe it a key duty to keep pace with technological advancement in<br> order to cope with users’ continual sophisticated information requirements. such libraries in the 21st century may not function properly without the existence of electronic resources. Tyckoson (2011) affirms that libraries and information centres which fail to adopt appropriate information<br> technology in their services may cease to function and perhaps, close down. Essentially, ICTs are the standpoints that provide access to electronic resources (e-resource). Modern teaching, learning and research purposes are promoted by academic libraries in universities through the use of ICT. Academic libraries are central in higher educational systems, assisting in the improvement of learning and dissemination of knowledge to meet the information needs of the universities and their communities through the provision of timely information Significant investment have been made in electronic resources and accompanying computer based technology to ensure access to electronic resources in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba Library<br> University of Agriculture, makurdi. It is important to find out their extent of availability.<br> accessibility and utilization. If the available electronic information resources are not being used or underused or not accessible to students for research, it may be important to know this in order to make recommendation regarding possibilities of improving usage of the resources or cancelling subscriptions.<br> It has been reported that university of Agriculture, makurdi is lagging behind their counterparts in other universities of Agricultures in terms of quality of research (Adams, King &amp; Hook, 2010). Part of the problems has been attributed to inadequate modern ICT infrastructural facilities in university leading to low levels of availability and utilization of electronic information resources by students. In order to know the cause and make recommendations, the study investigated the extent of availability and utilization of electronic resources in University of Agriculture, Makurdi Library.<br> Availability and utilization of electronic information resources is key to the success of students academic activities most especially in the areas of research in any institution and the library plays the central role in making information available and accessible. It is therefore also necessary to find out if the Francis sulemanu Idachaba library is performing her primarily responsibility of providing electronic information resources to meet user’s information needs, learning and research.<br> The pertinent issues are: Are electronic resources available in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba<br> Library? If they are available, to what extent are they available? Are they accessible by students<br> for research? If they accessible, to what extent and are they really use by students for research?<br> If they are suitable for use, are they being used? And why are they not being used? These issues have necessitated this research. It is in the light of the above reasons, that the researchers examined the available electronic resources in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba Library and how they are used by the students in learning and research.</p> <p><br> <b>1.3 Objectives of the Study:</b></p> <p><b><br> </b>The objective of this study is to find out the Availability, accessibility, and use of electronic<br> information resources in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library university of Agriculture, Makurdi. Specifically, the study seeks:<br> 1. To ascertain the types of electronic information resources available for research by<br> students in Francis Sulemau Idachaba library University of Agriculture, Makurdi.<br> 2. To ascertain the extent of availability of electronic information resources for research<br> by students in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of Agriculture, Makurdi.<br> 3. To determine the extent of accessiblity of electronic information resources for research<br> by students in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of Agriculture, Makurdi.<br> 4. To evaluate the extent of utilization of electronic information resources for research by<br> students in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of Agriculture, Makurdi.<br> 5. To find out the problems encountered by students while accessing and using the<br> electronic information resources for research in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library<br> University of Agriculture, Makurdi.</p> <p><br> <b>1.4 Research Questions:</b></p> <p><b><br> </b>1. What types of electronic information resources are available for Research by students<br> in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of Agriculture, Makurdi?<br> 2. What is the extent of availability of electronic information resources for research by<br> students in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of Agriculture, Makurdi?<br> 3. To what extent are electronic information resources accessible by students for research<br> in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of agriculture, Makurdi?<br> 4. To what extent do students utilize the electronic information resources for research in<br> Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of Agricuture, Makurdi?<br> 5. What are the problems encountered by students while accessing and using the electronic<br> information resources for research in Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of<br> Agriculture, Makurdi?</p> <p><br> <b>1.5 Significance of the study:</b></p> <p><br> <br> The result of the study would be useful to all professional librarians, the university libraries,<br> students, university management, and researchers to understand and appreciate the role of<br> electronic information resources in education most especially in the area of research ( project writing). The present study was intended to raise the consciousness of academic staff, university administrations, university librarians and other stakeholders in Nigerian universities to the fast changing information environment due to ICT revolution and emergence of electronic information resources. The study will raise the level of awareness of academic staff in Nigerian universities on the need to access and utilize ICTs and electronic information resources as modern tools for global research and integration. The findings of the study would provide the platform for the integration of academic staff in Nigerian universities into international research<br> community and the emerging knowledge economy.<br> The study would significantly provide information on the state of the art in terms of ICT<br> infrastructural facilities in Nigerian universities, and the extent of accessibility and utilization of electronic resources by students for their research in relation to their productivity. The findings of the study would make a significant contribution towards proffering solutions to the<br> ongoing debate in the field of Information Science on the need of accessing and using electronic<br> resources to ameliorate the relative low level of research in Nigerian universities (African in general) in international journals. Thus, the study would provide the basis towards proffering solution to the problem of non-utilization of electronic resources in Nigerian (African) universities even where they are available and accessible. The findings of the study would then help in the planning for rapid diffusion of ICTs and provision of electronic resources in Nigerian (African) universities by university managements, university librarians, relevant government ministries/agencies (such as National Universities Commission, NUC), and donor (international/local) organizations/agencies.<br> Hence, the study will be of benefit to university managements and university librarians in being proactive in developing relevant ICT policies/strategies toward effective and sustainable electronic collection development in Nigerian (African) universities, as well as promoting accessibility and utilization of relevant electronic resources by students for research in these universities. In the final analysis, the study will stimulate not only the students and academic staff, but all stakeholders on the need to work concertedly to improve research output in Nigerian (African) universities and be competitive in international scene. It is hoped that this research will go beyond finding the problems being envisaged to provide recorded knowledge of an idea academic library situation. By elaborately discussing the topic,<br> a good reference material will be achieved at the end. In addition, the result of the study would be of empirical benefit to intending researchers as it will serve as a reference material for those who may wish to undertake researches in a similar area. Soft copy of this work will be uploaded on the internet for students, librarians, researchers and the general public to have access to, for information sharing. Hard copies will also be displayed in the library for the consumption of librarians, students, and for cross validation by future researchers.</p> <p><br> <b>1.6 Scope of the Study:</b></p> <p><b><br> </b>The geographical scope is Makurdi, Benue state. The study covered Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of Agriculture, Makurdi Benue state, Nigeria. The content scope is basically on availability, accesibility and use of electronic information resources in Francis Sulemanu<br> Idachaba library. The areas to be covered in this study inclues: the types of electronic<br> information resources available, the extent of availability of the electronic resources, the extent of accessibility and utilization as well as problems encountered by students in accessing and utilizing the information resources available for research by sudents. The population scope is made up of all the students who are registered members of Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library, University of Agriculture, Makurdi.</p> <p><br> <b>1.7 Operational Definition of Terms:<br> </b>❖ <b>LIBRARY: </b>In this study, a library is defined as a designated building where<br> information in prints and in other formats are collected, organised, carefully prepared<br> according to some specific or definite plan, and make accessible for reading and<br> consultation by all ages and interests.<br> ❖ <b>UNIVERSITY LIBRARY: </b>in this study, A university library is a kind of academic<br> library that serves the information needs of the university community through provision<br> of information resources that supports learning, teaching and research. The university<br> library is usually centrally located where students can access the library with ease.<br> Example of University library is the Francis Sulemanu Idachaba library University of<br> Agriculture, makurdi.<br> ❖ <b>ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: </b>in this study, Electronic resources are materials<br> consisting of data and/or computer programme(s) encoded for reading and manipulation<br> by a computer by the use of a peripheral device directly or remotely connected to the<br> computer or via a network such as the internet.electronic resources include full text<br> documents, CD-ROMs, resources available on the internet such as E-journals, Online<br> Public Access Catalogues (OPAC) and other computer based electronic networks. For<br> the purposes of this study, electronic resources refer to OPAC, CD-ROM, Dspace and<br> academic databases subscribed by Francis Sulemanu Idachaba Library.<br> ❖ <b>ACCESSIBILITY: </b>in this study, accessibility means the ability to locate, gain entry<br> and use a resource that is physically or electronically provided to obtain specific and<br> accurate information.<br> ❖ <b>AVAILABILITY: </b>in this study, availability means that which is available. In essence,<br> the quality of being available. Electronic information resources cannot be accessible if<br> they are not available. Thus, availability precedes access and access precedes use.<br> ❖ <b>UTILIZATION: </b>in this study, utilization of a resource is the act of exploiting a<br> resource to satisfy an information. For information resources to be effectively used by<br> students, they have to be accessible.<br> <br> <br> </p> <br><p></p>