Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
2019
Abstract
This study examined reading culture and use of library information resources among the undergraduate students in University of Ilorin. Five research questions were developed and two null hypotheses were formulated which were tested at 0.05 level of significant. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and the population of the study consists of all the undergraduate students in University of Ilorin while stratified random sampling technique was used to select 382 respondents. A questionnaire titled “Questionnaire on Reading Culture and Use of Library Information Resources among Undergraduate Student” (QRCULIRUS)” was used to collect data from the respondents. The instrument was validated using content and construct validity method with a reliability co-efficient of r=0.75 using Cronbach alpha technique. Three hundred and eight-two copies of the questionnaire were administered to the undergraduate students in University of Ilorin out of which 359 copies were returned and completely filled. Frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze data collected for the five research questions while T-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) were used to test the two null hypotheses of the study. The study found that majority of the respondents cultivate reading culture and majority of them use textbooks, reference resources, novels and magazines. The results also revealed that majority of the respondents spend 1-2 hours on reading every day and the reasons why they use information materials in the library are to pass exam, complement studies, acquire new knowledge, develop themselves academically, and to do assignment while outdated information resources, epileptic power supply, scarcity of information resources, and inability to locate choice of information materials in the library are the major challenges that students encountered while reading and using library information resources. The result of the first null hypothesis revealed that there is a significant difference in the reading culture of male and female students in University of Ilorin while the result of the second null hypothesis showed that there is a significant relationship between reading culture and use of library information resources. Based on the findings of the study, the study recommends that library management should encourage student by providing necessary infrastructural facilities into the library which will prompt them to continue using the library; and libraries should acquire recent information materials in to the library to keep enticing the students to use the library.