Access and Use of Electronic Information Resources Among Medical Students in University of Port Harcourt Library

Boma T David-West ,Patience Owere Ekpang

doi:10.7176/ikm/9-4-08

Abstract

This paper investigated access and use of electronic information resources among medical students in University of Port Harcourt Library. The study adopted a correlational survey research design. Questionnaire was used as instruments for data collection. The population of the study was made up of all the medical students in University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, totaling five hundred and forty two (542), and one hundred and eight(108) were selected as sample and used for the study, three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data collected. The null hypotheses formulated was rejected suggesting that there is significant relationship between Access and Use of Electronic Information Resources among medical students in University of Port Harcourt. The study revealed that most of the medical students lack the ability to access and use these electronic information resources. The study recommends trainings and orientation for students on the use and access of relevant electronic information resources which will boost their retrieval skills. Keywords : access, information, resources, electronic, utilization DOI : 10.7176/IKM/9-4-08 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Highlights

Libraries and information centres play valuable roles in meeting societal information needs, facilitating and making access to such information possible
The finding revealed a positive relationship between students’ accessibility and utilization of electronic information resources. This implies that students can access information through websites with different search options, as well as accessing information from e-resources leading to effective utilization of e-resources geared towards the attainment of the university goals
The findings reveals that a positive relationship exist between students’ awareness and use of electronic information resources

Summary

Introduction

Libraries and information centres play valuable roles in meeting societal information needs, facilitating and making access to such information possible. The ability to access electronic information resources enables a researcher to select the appropriate terminology that express the concept or subject under investigation. This has to do with knowledge of the structure of the database. The establishment of the electronic library oversees that electronic information resources are available online to meet users need for research (Wu et al 2016). The result of this initiative has increased electronic information content adding thousands of information resources contributing to the widening of knowledge at the disposal of the library. Libraries provide statistical tools for data analysis along with training and various online support systems for students to enjoy access to witnessing exponential growth and diversity, best described by (Smith 2016) as retooling library information resources to support the innovation of reshaping library practices

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Discussion

Conclusion