Extent of Digital Information Resources Usage by Undergraduates Of Selected Higher Institutions In Delta And Edo States, Nigeria

Abstract

The article was on the extent of digital information resources (DIRs) usage by undergraduates of selected higher institutions in Delta and Edo states, Nigeria. This study adopted descriptive survey research design. The study was conducted in Federal and State University Libraries in Delta and Edo states in the south- south geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The sample for the study comprised one thousand and eighty-eight hundred (1,088) users drawn from four universities. Purposive sampling technique was used to select two universities from Delta and Edo states respectively. Proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from each of the federal and state university libraries used for the study. The instruments used for the collection of data was structured questionnaire The major findings include that some Digital Information Resources (DIRs) were available in the university libraries visited by the researcher are the following: e-conference papers, e-zines, e-newsletters e-reference materials, e-projects, e-journals, e-seminar papers, e-books and e-dissertation. More specifically, Ambrose Alli University Library (AAU) have ten(10)  types  of DIRs; John Harrison Library in University of Benin (UNIBEN) eight of DIRs are available either through inter- library loan (ILL), or online subscription. Federal University Petroleum Resources Library do not have any of the DIRs because the digital library was just newly established and under structuring; but they are using it as cybercafé for students to search academic information with the Internet facilities. The findings also revealed that students make use of DIRs to a low extent.  The constraints encountered by students towards the accessibility of DIRs in the four libraries are epileptic power supply, none availability of online databases, lack of formal training in Internet skills among students, slow bandwidth and so on.

Keywords: Digital Information Resources, Uses, Undergraduates, Higher Institutions and Nigeria.