EMERGING ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCES USAGE FOR RESEARCH AMONG POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES IN NORTH-WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper presents the report of a study on the emerging usage of information resources for research among postgraduate students in universities in the north-west of Nigeria. The aim of the study is to determine the extent of electronic information resource usage for research among postgraduate students and the challenges associated with the usage in universities in the north-west of Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research design. A sample size of 530 was drawn out of a population of 26,531. Copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the respondents, out of whom 499 were returned and used for the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collected. The study found that the extent of EIRS usage among postgraduate students in universities in North-west Nigeria is low (mean = 2.42).Also, it revealed that the challenges associated with EIRS usage among postgraduate students in universities in North-west Nigeria are low bandwidth and slow internet connectivity (mean = 3.09). the study recommended that postgraduate students be given adequate library orientation and traning on the use of the EIRS as soon as they are admitted to the university. Adequate infrastructure should be made available to enable users to benefit from this medium of information dissemination. The university management should improve the bandwidth and Internet connectivity on campus and in the university community at large.