Awareness and use of electronic resources in university libraries: A case study of University for Development Studies Library

Abstract

Academic libraries are hub of knowledge and hence are considered as integral parts of academic life. Academic libraries have been in existence for over 500 years and are still very useful today to all educational institutions. The advent of Information and Communication Technology has led to the use of electronic resources in libraries. However, empirical studies have shown that the use of these resources by faculty members is very low. The objective of this study therefore, was to examine the use of electronic resources by lecturers of the University for Development Studies, Wa campus. Primary data were collected from 80 lecturers through the use of a simple random sampling procedure. The data were collected with the aid of a questionnaire and analysed through the use of binary logistics regression model. The results indicate that 88.8% of the respondents were users of the Library and 65% were aware of the availability of e-resources in the Library. This suggests that awareness is high but utilization is low. The determinants of e-resource utilisation in the Library include purpose of Library visit and sources of awareness of the e-resources in the Library. Besides, it was discovered that inadequate Library infrastructure, low internet bandwith, and inadequate trained library staff were the major challenges confronting the use of e-resources of the Library. The study therefore, recommends that efforts to improve the use of e-resources in the Library should include ways of creating user awareness, training/workshops for users and staff, and responding to the challenges confronting utilisation.