Digital Libraries in Jordanian Universities and Overcoming the Digital Gap in the Time of COVID-19: A Case Study of Yarmouk University

Abstract

This study aims to evaluating the pattern of digital library utilization in the time of COVID-19 by the postgraduate students in Yarmouk University - Jordan, in addition to helping the university library’s staff and decision makers to identify the role that the digital library play as a response to the closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effectiveness, Moreover, to examine availability of the ICT infrastructure and support modality the distance teaching and learning which took place due to the university closure since the start of the pandemic. A was used to collect data on how the needs of the postgraduate students and their use of the digital library resources during the period of COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of (180) postgraduate students selected by using simple random sampling technique through (GoogleDocs) in order to represent the study population which is (759) postgraduate students. The findings indicated the poor utilization of digital information resources since students depended on the internet to obtain free digital resources. As a conclusion, the students’ skills have overcome the digital gap as their generation depends on the use of all forms of smart devices.