Agriculture and Nation Building: Do Students Still Use the University Library? Case Study of University of Ibadan Agricultural Economics Graduate Students

Abstract

The growing awareness of internet based information resources has made students to reduce their use of the physical library in which university has invested huge financial resources for nation building. Past research efforts on the use of library have mostly focused on the generality of students without localised study on a particular set of students. This paper therefore looked at whether graduate students of agricultural economics still use the physical library in the face of the growing efforts of promoting agricultural study and production in Nigeria. The factors that affect the length of time students spend in the library were also established. Simple random sampling was used to select 60 graduate students during the 2010/2011 academic session in Agricultural Economics Department, University of Ibadan. The students were administered with structured questionnaire and 57 were successful for analysis. Majority of the respondents were female while 47.37 per cent was single. Majority of the students visit the university, faculty department and outside library occasionally while 73.68 per cent are of full time mode of study. Almost all the students, 96.49 per cent use internet based library. The tobit regression revealed that full-time mode of study, increase in weekly financial allowance on study, membership of registered group off- and on-campus encourages students to spend more hours in the library. Full-time mode of study should be encouraged among the graduate students while the library should be equipped with adequate and reliable internet facilities and personal computers to encourage students’ visit and use of the library towards the promotion of agricultural scholarship for food sufficiency which is a valid aim of agricultural development and nation building.

Keywords: Agricultural Economics, Graduate Students, Library Use