Relative contributions of individual, institutional and system factors to utilisation of Research4Life databases in National Agricultural Research Institutes in Nigeria

Luke O Obasuyi,Oshiotse A Okwilagwe

doi:10.4314/iijikm.v8i4.5

Abstract

This study investigated the relative contributions of individual, institutional and system factors to utilisation of Research4Life databases by scientists in the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) in Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design of the correlational type. Simple and stratified random sampling techniques were used to select 744 (62%) research scientists from a population of 1,205 in 13 NARIs. A validated and pre-tested questionnaire was the instrument adopted for this study and it consisted of 105 questions arranged in five sections A – E with 0.99 reliability coefficient based on Cronbach alpha method. Descriptive and inferential statistics - simple percentage, mean, correlation, multiple regression and analysis of variance were used to analyse the data. Result revealed that utilisation of Research4Life databases was low and the 22 individual, institutional and system factors significantly influenced utilisation of Research4Life databases in the NARIs. Individual, institutional and system factors showed varied levels of variances to utilisation of Research4Life databases in the NARIs. Out of the 22 factors investigated, five factors made significant relative contributions towards utilisation of Research4Life databases in the NARIs. System factors made significant relative contributions of three factors (perceived ease of use, database design features, local journal content), followed by one institutional (accessibility of databases) factor and one individual factor (computer anxiety). For increased utilisation of Research4Life databases in NARIs in Nigeria, individual, institutional and system factors have to be given utmost consideration.Keywords: individual factor, institutional factor, system factors, utilisation, Research4Life databases, Agricultural scientists

Highlights

Research4Life is the collective name for the four programme - HINARI (Health Internetwork Access to Research Initiative), AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture), OARE (Online Access to Research in the Environment) and ARDI (Access to Research for Development and Innovation) that provide developing countries with free or low cost access to over 79,000 academic and professional peer-reviewed online resources including 21,000 quality peer-reviewed international scientific journals, 50,000 e-books, with several databases and millions full-text journal articles
Research Question: The following research questions guided the study: 1. What is the level of utilisation of Research4Life databases by scientists in National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs)
To ascertain the level of utilisation of Research4Life databases in NARIs, the scientists were asked to respond to six questions on their use of the databases

Summary

Introduction

Research4Life is the collective name for the four programme - HINARI (Health Internetwork Access to Research Initiative), AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture), OARE (Online Access to Research in the Environment) and ARDI (Access to Research for Development and Innovation) that provide developing countries with free or low cost access to over 79,000 academic and professional peer-reviewed online resources including 21,000 quality peer-reviewed international scientific journals, 50,000 e-books, with several databases and millions full-text journal articles. Relative Contributions of Individual, Institutional and System factors to Utilisation of Research4Life Databases in National Agricultural Research Institutes in Nigeria countries. Utilisation of Research4Life databases has impacted positively on the productivity of agricultural scientists in some countries where the databases have been adequately used. Various factors have been known to influence utilisation of different Information Technology (IT) and Research4Life databases. IT acceptance and utilisation literature classified these factors as personal/individual/users, institutional/organisational and system/technology factors (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012; Park, 2009; Rahim, 2008; Zabukovsek, & Bobek, 2013). Six individual factors investigated in this study include: intention to use, task at hand, computer anxiety, prior ICT experience, ICT searching skills and computer/Internet self-efficacy

Methods

Results

Conclusion