Use of Information Retrieval Tools by the Postgraduate Students of Selected Universities in South Western Nigeria.

Abstract

The paper examined the use of Information Retrieval Tools (IRTs) by the post graduate students of selected universities in south western Nigeria. The study made use of descriptive survey and was carried out over a period of four months between January and May, 2012. The sample size comprise of 2,100 postgraduate students which were randomly selected from different faculties and served with copies of questionnaire. A total of 1,923 copies of useable questionnaire were retrieved which represents 91.6% response rate. The responses were collated and analyzed using frequency counts and simple percentages. The outcome shows that respondents make use of IRTs for various purposes and that their university library’s user education and information literacy programme forms the main source of their knowledge of IRTs’ usage. This shows that their university libraries plays major role in assisting the respondents to make use of IRTs. Other findings show that the main IRTs made use of by the respondents is the Internet Search Engines. Other findings of the study also revealed that the use of the tools has impacted positively on their social and academic life and also broaden their global knowledge of diverse issues.  The major constraint to their use of the tools is that of Internet fluctuations. The paper concludes with recommendations on the need to give training on the use of IRTs to students especially library-based ones.

Keywords: Information retrieval tools, Information retrieval, postgraduate students, use of information retrieval tools.