Computer literacy and student demographics: a study of select Indian universities

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the present study is to determine levels of computer literacy adequate for searching academic information from electronic resources and databases. The study also examines whether or not student demographics influence this level of computer literacy in a university scenario in India, a developing nation. Design/methodology/approach – The primary data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey on a sample of 329 respondents from three major universities located in North India. The study focused on only postgraduate students and research scholars. The data, thus collected, were analyzed with the aid of the SPSS statistical software package. χ2 test was also applied to determine significant comparability among student demographics and their acquired computer usage competencies. Findings – The study discovered that among the respondents less than half reported that they had acquired adequate computer competence to search for information from electronic resources or databases. ...