Perception of library advocacy and use of library information resources among distance learning students of University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Library information resources are very essential and instrumental to the academic performance of students who use them to their advantage. The value of any library is hinged on its resources and most importantly its level of usage. This is because the primary objective of every library is satisfy the information needs of its user community; and to achieve this, there is need for the library to create awareness for the library users about the resources and services available for use in the library. This study examined the perception of library advocacy and information resources use among distance learning students of University of Ibadan. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of this study consists of all the 8572 distance learning students of University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. Two stage random sampling technique was adopted for the study. At the first stage, 60% of the 19 departments on the distance learning programmed in the University of Ibadan was selected. The 60% of the 19 departments gives 11 departments. At the second stage, 4% sampling fraction was used to select the sample size of 256 from the 11 departments. A self-structured questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. Findings from the study revealed that the main perception of students about library advocacy is that it will create room for library development(x=3.50). The study indicated books 217(98.6%) as the main type of library information resources used by distance learning students. The study also revealed the following as purposes for use of library information resources: group work (x=3.25), research work (x=3.21), examination preparation x(=3.16), update knowledge and supplement personal reading (x=3.14), entertainment (x=3.02), information communication technology trends (x=3.00), learn difficult or challenging subjects (x=2.99), and personal tutorials” (x=2.99). The study identified insufficient ICT facilities, inadequacy of current LIR, unstable power supply, inadequate reading facilities, poor internet connectivity, noise from fellow students, inadequate library personnel, amongst others, as constraints to the use of library information resources by the students. The study also showed that there is a significant relationship between students perception of library advocacy and use of library information resources (r=.421, n=220, p (.000)<.05). Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that since library advocacy brings about development of the library and increases the level of use of the information resources in the library, there should be a properly planned and regular advocacy for the library.