Abstract
The study examined the influence of gender, age, ICT competence and awareness of Electronic Information Resources (EIRs) on the use of EIRs in legal research by lawyers in Lagos State, Nigeria. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 226 lawyers from a population of 377. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data was analysed with frequency and percentage distribution, correlation and multiple regression. Findings showed that the majority (>70%) were aware of most of the listed legal EIRs and also utilized them. However, not all could rate themselves highly competent at using ICTs for some of the listed tasks. Awareness and use of information resources had a significant, positive relationship (r = .82, p < .05). ICT competence (β = .63, t = 6.51, p < .05) and age (β = -6.01, t = -3.28, p < .05) significantly influenced the use of EIRs while gender did not (β = -6.78, t = -3.72, p > .05). The study recommends that the law firms should ensure continuous training in the use of ICTs and law librarians should find innovative ways of keeping lawyers abreast of new EIRs.Keywords: Electronic Information Resources (EIRs), Lawyers, Awareness of EIRs, ICT competence.
Highlights
The legal profession is highly dependent on information and ability to access and use various legal information sources to effectively counsel clients and defend cases is one of the competencies expected of a legal practitioner
The results further show that lawyer’s age had significant but negative influence on the use of electronic information resources (β = -6.01, t = -3.84, p
The quintessential legal practitioner cannot ignore the gamut of electronic information resources accessible through global networks
Summary
The legal profession is highly dependent on information and ability to access and use various legal information sources to effectively counsel clients and defend cases is one of the competencies expected of a legal practitioner. Lawyers are expected to possess the skills required to determine what type of information is needed to pursue a particular case, the sources of such information, the depth and scope of the information required and the ethical implications using the information (Du Plessis, 2008) These set of skills is what the American Library Association (ALA) described as information literacy. Babalola (2010), citing Orr, Appleton and Wallin (2001) defined information literacy as the ability to locate, manage, critically evaluate and use information for problem-solving, decision-making, research and professional development. It is a set of lifelong skills that is relevant to every sphere of life. The need to be information literate is very apparent in the legal profession
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