ABSTRACT
This study examined the Accessibility and
Utilisation of Open-Access e-resources by Postgraduate students of Federal
Universities in South South, Nigeria. Eight (8) research questions were
developed and eight (8) hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.5 level of
significance for the study. The study adopted a
descriptive survey research design. The study was
centered on four of the south-south states, namely; Cross River, Akwa Ibom,
Rivers, and Edo state.
The
population for the study was 1401 Doctoral (PhD) and Masters of Education
(M.Ed) postgraduate students from four federal Universities of the south-south
geo-political zone of Nigeria, namely: University of Calabar, University of
Uyo, University of Port-Harcourt and University of Benin. The sample for the study was 349 postgraduate students in the faculty of education of Federal
Universities in South South, Nigeria. The study employed the multi-stage
sampling techniques precisely; purposive and disproportionate
stratified-simple random sampling
techniques. A structured questionnaire titled “Accessibility and
Utilisation of Open-Access Electronic Resources Questionnaire (AUOAERQ)” was used for the study. Face validity of the instrument was
established by three (3) lecturers: two from department of Library and Information Science and
one from Measurement and Evaluation unit of Science Education department, all from College of Education, Michael Okpara University
of Agriculture, Umudike. The reliability of the instrument for the study
was determined with a trial test on 20 postgraduate
students of College of Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture,
Umudike Abia state, which was outside the study area, but has similar characteristics with
the target respondents using Cronbach Alpha statistics to determine the
internal consistency of the questionnaire items which yielded a reliability
coefficient of 0.84. The
data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation to answer the
research questions while t-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses at
.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed, among others
that Open-Access e-resources were used
for academic purpose by Postgraduate students. Also M.Ed Postgraduate
students of Federal Universities in South-South, Nigeria
accessed and utilised Open-Access e-resources to a high extent while the PhD
Postgraduate students accessed and utilised them to low extent. However, the level of satisfaction derived by both the
M.Ed and PhD Postgraduate students of on the use of Open-Access e-resources were all to high extent. Challenges
associated with the accessibility of Open-Access
e-resources by Postgraduate students were
lack of co-operation with Librarians/Library staff; lack
of e-resources search and retrieval mandated course in postgraduate curriculum;
and poor advocacy of Open-Access e-resources respectively.
Recommendations such as provision of adequate
library ICT infrastructures in the universities for postgraduate use and stable power supply; encouragement of ownership of
personal computer for postgraduate students among others were made.
ONOBRAKPOR, O (2022). Accessibility And Utilization Of Open-Access Electronic Resources By Postgraduate Students Of Federal Universities In South -South, Nigeria. Mouau.afribary.org: Retrieved Dec 23, 2024, from https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/accessibility-and-utilization-of-open-access-electronic-resources-by-postgraduate-students-of-federal-universities-in-south-south-nigeria-7-2
ONOBRAKPOR, ONOBRAKPOR. "Accessibility And Utilization Of Open-Access Electronic Resources By Postgraduate Students Of Federal Universities In South -South, Nigeria" Mouau.afribary.org. Mouau.afribary.org, 05 Oct. 2022, https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/accessibility-and-utilization-of-open-access-electronic-resources-by-postgraduate-students-of-federal-universities-in-south-south-nigeria-7-2. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
ONOBRAKPOR, ONOBRAKPOR. "Accessibility And Utilization Of Open-Access Electronic Resources By Postgraduate Students Of Federal Universities In South -South, Nigeria". Mouau.afribary.org, Mouau.afribary.org, 05 Oct. 2022. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. < https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/accessibility-and-utilization-of-open-access-electronic-resources-by-postgraduate-students-of-federal-universities-in-south-south-nigeria-7-2 >.
ONOBRAKPOR, ONOBRAKPOR. "Accessibility And Utilization Of Open-Access Electronic Resources By Postgraduate Students Of Federal Universities In South -South, Nigeria" Mouau.afribary.org (2022). Accessed 23 Dec. 2024. https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/accessibility-and-utilization-of-open-access-electronic-resources-by-postgraduate-students-of-federal-universities-in-south-south-nigeria-7-2