ABSTRACTS

The study examines the information retrieval system for electronic resources in Abia state polytechnic and Rhema university libraries located in the south eastern geo-political zone ofNigeria. The study -was guided by five research question covering the types of electronic resources available in the libraries. It looked at the information retrieval system used as well as their frequency of use. The research design was descriptive survey with a population of53 comprising of43 library staffofAbia state polytechnic and 10 library staff ofRhema University. A complete census was used because the population was manageable, therefore no sampling was used. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed in line with four likert rating scale. 53 copies ofthe questionnaire were administered ofwhich 53 were fdled and duly returned showing 100% response rate. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The finding ofthe study revealed that both libraries have electronic resources, but to an extent. The study also shows the IRS available and their frequency of use as Google, Ask.com, WebCrawler, Yahoo etc. Furthermore, the finding showed that the libraries have the following as some oftheirproblems militating against the information retrieval system; inadequate information retrieval skill, Inadequate information retrieval skill, Lack oftrainedpersonal to guard users, Erratic power supply, High cost of internet connection, poor internet connectivity etc. The following recommendations were made to remedy the problems; skill training on electronic information retrieval for users, provision of adequate time for research, provision of adequate information retrieval facilities such as computers and laptops etc, provision of adequate and steady power supply, provision offast internet connectivity in the library andproper training and retraining ofstaffto empower and enable them guide users on how to properly frame their queries.