TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title
Page … … … … … … … … … … … i
Approval Page … … … … … … … … …
Certification Page … … … … … …
Dedication
… … … … … …. … … … …
Acknowledgement … … … … … …
Table
of Contents … … … … …. … … … …
Abstract … … … … … … … … … …
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study … …. … …. ….
Statement of the Problems … …. … … … …
Purpose of the Study … … … … … … 6
Research Questions … … … … … … 7
Significance of the Study … … … … … 7
Scope of the Study … … … … … … … 8
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE
REVIEW
Conceptual Framework … … … … … … 9
An overview of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT … 9
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Infrastructures in Nigerian University Libraries … … … … … 15
Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Facilities by Students in Nigerian Universities Libraries … … … … 17
Information and communication Technologies (ICTs) skills of students in Nigerian Universities … … … … … … … 19
Problems of Students’ Utilization of ICTs in their Researches … … 20
Strategies for Enhancing the Effective Utilization of ICTs in Libraries 23
Review of Empirical Studies … … … … … … 26
Summary of Literature Review … … … … … 31
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH
METHOD
Research Design … … … … … … … … 33
Area of the Study … … … … … … … 33
Population of the Study … … … … … … … 34
Sample and Sampling Techniques … … … … … … 35
Instruments for Data Collection … … … … … 35
Validation of the Instruments … … … … … … 36
Procedure for Data Collection … … … … … … 36
Method for Data Analysis … … … … … … … 36
CHAPTER FOUR:
PRESENTATION OF DATA … … … … … … … … … … … 4-
CHAPTER FIVE… … … … … … … … … … 4-
Discussion of Findings … … … … … … 4-
Conclusions … … … …. … … … … 5-
Implications of the Study… … … … … … … 5-
Recommendations… … … … … … 5-
Suggestions for Further Research… … … … … … 5-
Limitation of the Study … … … … … … … 6-
Summary … … … … … … … … … 6-
REFERENCES … … … … … … … … …
… 6-
Appendix A … …. … … … … … … 6-
ABSTRACT
This research
work was intended to investigate the utilization of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) by students in the five federal university
libraries in North-Central Zone of Nigeria. This is with aims of ascertaining
their problems and strategies for improvement. Five research questions were
formulated to guide the study. It sought to find out among other things the ICT
facilities available to students in university libraries, ascertain the extent
to which students utilize ICT facilities in university libraries, determine the
level of ICTs skills of students of the various universities under studied,
find out problems encountered by students using ICT facilities of these
universities and identify the strategies that could solve the problems and
enhance the effective utilization of ICTs in these universities. Descriptive
survey design was employed for the study and the entire population of 150
comprising of students, five university librarians and ICT specialist/system
analysts was used. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire.
The questionnaire, out of 150 copies of the questionnaire distributed to the
respondents 140 copies were filled and returned representing 93.33% of the
copies of questionnaire distributed. To analyze the data the following
descriptive statistical measures were employed: frequency table, simple
percentage and mean (
).
The results obtained from the findings
revealed that ICT facilities are available to the students but their utilization
is at average level, that students possess a wide range of ICT related skills,
that ICTs have great effects on the students’ academic output, that there are
factors militating against the effective use of ICTs by students, ranging from
inadequate funds, poor or erratic power supply, inadequate number of effective
Internet Service Providers (ISP) to lack of policy framework on ICTs in the
country. Based on the findings, it was recommended that efforts should be made
to place a high premium/priority on application of ICTs in the services on
university libraries, that students should be encouraged to utilize ICTs in the
libraries to enhance their academic output as well as Government showing more
commitment in the developing of ICTs base in the country by providing grants
and aids more stable power supply and cyber cafes, generating of funds
internally for ICT projects, adequate training and orientation on ICTs should
be emphasized.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
of the Study
The University libraries are libraries established to cater for the
academic and research needs of the university. They serve the reading and
research interests of undergraduates, lecturers, researchers, and other users.
University libraries are big repositories of information and knowledge from all
fields of learning to the academic community of students and staff that they
serve. University libraries, which are
academic libraries, provide support to members of an academic community,
including students, researchers and lecturing staff.
Academic libraries are libraries
established in Universities, Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and
Monotechnics. Their collection is tailored towards achievement of the
institution goals of teaching, learning and research. They serve the students,
lecturers, administrative members of the academic community as well as others. They are central to learning, research, and
have always depended on relevant new technologies, which on the other hand are
driven by emerging trends in education and research. The major function of
University libraries is to provide resources to meet the needs of users. Their
materials are diversified to support teaching and programmes that take place
within them. Therefore, the University library has to build a strong collection
of information resources in physical and digital formats to cater for the
knowledge requirements of students, faculty members and research scholars of
the institution. To remain relevant, libraries must fulfill some set of roles
for serving their parent institutions.
Akintunde (2006) submitted that, librarianship continues to hold a
central place in higher education worldwide. It has remained the strength of
the best traditions in academics worldwide. Nonetheless, significant progress
will have to be made for Nigerian higher education libraries to be in the main
stream of the digital revolution. This
is because library services today require more global networking in delivering
services.
According to Aguolu and Aguolu (2002),
the University library is the university’s principal instrument in the
conservation of knowledge through its rational, systematic and comprehensive
acquisition of all types of human communication records, published and
unpublished, written or oral in recorded form that embody the ideas of
knowledge of the past.
As a store-house of information or a record of
human experiences to which students, lecturers, and researchers may turn for
data or information, the university library stands in the same relationship to
the society as the memory to an
individual by making available and accessible to its users information
resources needed for teaching and students’ independent study. To act on these
noble core purposes in today’s academic environment, however, requires that
libraries move beyond parameters of earlier times to pursue new modes of
serving their institutions (Rathinasabapathy, 2005).
The need to have ready access
to relevant information for improving knowledge is of strategic importance to
society (Lakos, 2004). The Internet is expanding fast in response to this, and
the amount of digital information available is increasing daily. The importance
of information to the success of any academic institution cannot be over –
emphasized. Akinade and Ogunyade (2002) ascertain that it is a valuable
resource required in any society or an institution to meet its objective. Ready
available information to students determines largely their success and future
development. Aguolu and Aguolu, (2002) asserts that, the basic tripartite
function of any university is to conserve the existing knowledge, to transmit
knowledge through teaching, and to create new knowledge through research. There
is no doubt that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be a major
source of sharing knowledge and information, and they have come to complement
physical library resources.
Information Technology (IT)
is an omnibus term that combines computer and telecommunications technology;
hence, it is sometimes called Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
It is concerned with the technology used in handling, acquiring, processing,
storing and disseminating information (Aina, 2004). Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) has revolutionized information transmission
and storage and has brought the globe to the doorsteps of people. It is a new
paradigm in all spheres of life, be it governance, civil service, health,
business, education, and the like. Wole (2002) defined ICT as electronic
technologies for creating, acquiring, storing, processing, communication and
using information. It is a conglomeration of compatible hardware and software
arranged to communicate information from one location to another through the
inter-connectivity or a network of computers.
Information and communication
technologies (ICTs) therefore consists of computers and other communication
facilities like telephones, fax machines etc. that are used to process and
communicate (disseminate) information. In line with this, Ukwugwu (2004)
indicates that ICTs is used to describe a wide range of new technologies and
their applications such as telephone, World Wide Web (WWW), e-mail etc. Today information is available in a variety
of forms like CD-ROMs, Online databases, e-journals etc. Inventions of devices
like CD-ROMs and flash memory cards, which have huge storage capacities, have
changed the outlook of libraries.
The accelerating pace of
information technology continuously raises the standards of users’ anticipations
and expectations of new valued-added services. Information professionals have
long sought to comprehend what factors are relevant in encouraging patrons to
seek out information. Over the years, a particular focus of inquiring has been
on those factors that play a role in deciding to use the library’s electronic
resources to seek information as opposed to just surfing the internet. These
inquiries assume an even greater importance in light of the fact that more
people are using the internet to find information they need that is unmediated
by the library, (Kibirge, 2000).
The current shift from the
age – long conventional means of providing library services to technology
driven approaches necessitated by advancements in computer technology, telecommunication
systems and the integration of both have given rise to a new digital paradigm
known as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). In the educational
sector, Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) is bridging the gap or
rather blurring the boundaries between students and teachers, the research
scholar and his users and library resources.
The application of technology to inform and make teaching, learning and
research entertaining is almost limitless.
Prior to introduction of ICTs
in service delivery, there are many activities and services performed and
rendered in the library by the librarians, which were strenuous and time
consuming. These activities were drudgery, grossly insufficient and
inefficient, and at the same time has caused much frictions in inter personal
relationship between librarians and the users as many librarians displayed
impatience when pestered by an inquisitive users. This is because they were
performed manually, and they ranged from manually processed acquisition to
dissemination and retrieval of information as contained in the shelves.
However, today, these activities can be carried out smoothly with the help of
ICTs facilities with greater efficiency and effectiveness to reduce space and
time. Advances in ICTs have facilitated the advancement of all professions. It
is rapidly influencing the society and our lives, thereby bringing us more
closely to happening around the wider world. Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) includes data, information systems, services (e.g. Web
services), computers, telecommunication network, and associated assets (e.g.
telephones, facsimiles, cell phones, laptops, digital cameras) radio,
television etc. These resources are used for information processing tasks as observed
by Musa (2005).
The use of internet in higher institutions to
access Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is an exciting
prospect, especially where there are significant impediments to obtaining
relevant current information the print collections and CD-ROM databases
available locally in the institutional libraries. Cornell (1999) opined that
the use of Electronic Information Sources (EIS) in tertiary education has
resulted in fundamental changes in teaching and learning, bringing new focus,
which is considered by some to have provided a paradigm shift. It is against this background that this
study is been conducted to assess the utilization of ICTs by students in the
federal university libraries in the North-Central zone of Nigeria.
Statement of the Problem
UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTs) BY STUDENTS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NORTH- CENTRAL ZONE OF NIGERIA
