Academic discipline as predictor of electronic information resources use by undergraduates of public universities in Southwestern Nigeria

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The importance of electronic information resources (EIRs) for academic activities has been widely acknowledged. Despite its overwhelming benefits, reports have shown that undergraduates of public universities in Southwestern Nigeria exhibit low use of EIRs and this adversely affects their studies. Studies concentrated more on ICT literacy skills than academic discipline (AD) as a factor that influences electronic information resources (EIRs) use. The study, therefore, was carried out to examine academic discipline as a predictor of electronic information resources (EIRs) use by undergraduates of public universities in southwestern Nigeria. The survey design of the correlational type was adopted. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used. Five states (Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos) were purposively selected in southwestern Nigeria. The purposive sampling technique was used to select eight public universities with four common academic faculties (science, engineering/technology, arts/humanities and social science) in the selected states. The proportionate to size sampling technique was used to select 1378 undergraduates across the faculties. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment correlation. Findings from the study revealed the distribution of academic disciplines of undergraduates according to Biglan model as: hard pure (20.0%), hard applied (23.6%), soft pure (29.9%) and soft applied (24.6%). The EIRs were prominently used for classwork/assignment, project writing, knowledge update, group/individual practical works and tutorials. The frequency of use of electronic information resources by undergraduates in universities in Southwestern Nigeria is high (Weighted mean = 3.41). A majority of the undergraduates accessed e-databases, web 2.0, e-books, library website, the internet and e-mail both at home and campus environment. The study also revealed that academic discipline significantly predicted electronic information resources use by undergraduates in universities in Southwestern, Nigeria(F=8.088, P < .001). Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that institutional policies supporting the use of electronic information resources for academic activities across various academic disciplines by undergraduates of public universities in Southwestern Nigeria, should be implemented.