Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
Summer 3-1-2021
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This study identified the challenges to the use of electronic databases by Lecturers in Government-owned University libraries in Anambra State Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Using a descriptive survey design, a sample of 749 respondents (570 for NAU and 179 for COOU) out of the 2,495 lecturers (1,900 in NAU, while that of COOU is 595) in the 2 government-owned universities in Anambra State. was selected through Proportionate sampling technique. A 21-itemed adopted questionnaire which was validated by three experts, and having a reliability coefficient of 0.78 for parts 2, and 0.82 for part 1, was used to collect information from these lecturers. Descriptive statistics of percentage was used to answer research question 1, while arithmetic mean and standard deviation were used to answer research question 2. The 2 null hypotheses were tested at 0.5 level of significance; with the aid of chi-square ( 2) for hypothesis 1, while z-test for hypothesis 2. The findings of the study indicated that 7 out of the 10 identified items were rated above 50% which means that the lecturers accepted these items as the electronic databases they use. These databases include; EBSCO Host, AJOL, JSTOR, HINARI, AGORA, OARE, DOAJ, DATAD, EBRARY and Web of Science. Although there were few disagreements on three items which suggests that there are some challenges encountered in the use of these databases. The 2 most top challenges are; Lack of user education and guidance on use of databases and slow internet connectivity. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others, that Greater publicity should be provided for lecturers and that improvement in the internet connectivity be guaranteed.