Serving Nigerian Law Students: E-readiness and Utilization of University E-Information Facilities

Abstract

During the last few years Nigeria invested substantially in their ICT infrastructure. Nigerian university libraries have acknowledged the need for the introduction of ICTs and e-resources for information retrieval. For a law faculty to exist a law library with e-resources is a requirement. The study aimed to determine the current position concerning the ability of the university and academic law libraries to provide access to ICTs and e-resources as part of their information service delivery. A secondary aim was to determine the e-readiness of the law students to search, retrieve and utilize eresources. Twelve universities offering law were targeted. Interviews were held with the librarians from both the university and law libraries and student opinions were sought through questionnaires and observation. One thousand two hundred and sixty students responded to the questionnaires. Observations of the available ICT facilities were also made. It was found that ICTs are available, but that the infrastructure is insufficient in most of the libraries. It was found that the university libraries were better resourced with ICTs than the academic law libraries. E-resources were also available in some of the law libraries, but not in all. Inaccessibility to ICTs was a major challenge. Many other challenges were identified impacting on service delivery and information seeking. Students were mostly e-ready but lacked general awareness of and easy access to e-resources. It was recommended that all law libraries improve on their ICT facilities and provision of e-resources. Also that the university managers actively search for ways to minimize disruptions such as erratic power supplies, low bandwidth, lack of computers, and payment of fees for Internet access.