Extent of Adoption and Use of Library Catalogues by Student Users in Polytechnic, Kogi State
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To find out the students awareness about library catalogue as access point to library collection.
- To find out methods employ by students to consult library catalogue to search for information resources.
- To ascertain the extent of use of the library catalogue by students to access information resources.
- To identify the constraints associated with the use of library catalogue.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
The library as a service oriented organization must provide the bibliographic resources and services channeled towards the fulfillment of its parent institution’s goals and objectives. The library ensures that the resources acquired are well organized to allow easy access by the library users (Oghenekaro, 2018). The traditional goals and objectives of the library catalogue are to enable users to search a library’s collection to find items pertaining to specific titles, authors, or subjects. Library catalogue is considered as an interface of information retrieval system which assists information searchers to access resources of libraries using several access points.
Library catalogue exist in different form. Like the card catalogues, sheaf catalogues, books, machine readable catalogues (MARCs) and online public access catalogues (OPACs). According to Ogbole and Morayo (2017) libraries were traditionally known to provide access to library information materials through card catalogues and book catalogue as the primary information locating tools. Following advancement in ICT and subsequent development of Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), the traditional concept of access to library resources which many scholars identified to be prone to numerous challenges has changed. OPAC has brought a changing relationship between libraries and their users in the changing ICT environment. Library OPACs first emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s and have gone through several cycles of change and development all geared towards improvement. The library OPAC as an automated catalogue system was developed as a tool to locate those information resources that had been acquired, organized and preserved by the library itself. In this environment, the user is both the primary searcher of the system and the user of the information resources. Aina (2004) stated that online public access catalogue (OPAC) is the most modern form of library catalogue, whereby bibliographic records of all the documents collection are stored in the computer memory or server. As a means of ensuring that information materials are available and accessible, libraries provide catalogues to display what is available in the library and where they can be obtained.
Ruzegea (2012) stated that awareness of OPAC and its interface features is 100% majority of respondents 66.7% stated that speed of navigation was fast, 76.7% reported that library OPAC has no multimedia Interface like video, rear players and audio features. Overall majority of respondents 80% satisfied with OPAC functionality. Again, Atanda and Uwulebo (2017) observed that awareness of the library catalogue is the ability of the students to have communication and consciousness of its essence, its retrieval technique as well as their relevance to the information user. Students’ skills in search catalogue can be created through library tours, orientations, seminars, lectures, library staff, handbooks and use of library studies. Although, much awareness of the retrieval tools may be created in the libraries, it does not necessarily mean its accessibility, not to speak of its use. The major importance is that they help library users to locate and retrieve the information materials they need.
Kumar and Vohra (2011) investigated the use of Online Public Access Catalogue by the users at Guru Nanak Dev University Library, Amritsar (Punjab) and discovered that majority of the respondents 68.7% were not aware regarding OPAC, 12.5% stated the reason to be lack of assistance from library staff and slow speed. The purpose of using OPAC majority of the respondents 63.2% stated that they use OPAC to know the availability of required document. The study suggests that the users should be made familiar with the use and operation of the OPAC by providing special training.
Kumar (2017) revealed that 26.99% respondents use the OPAC fortnightly and 22.84% weekly. 61.59% use the OPAC to locate a document on shelves and 58.48% to know the particular book is available on the shelves or not, 37.71% to know the bibliographical details, 31.14%. 91% respondents used the title search approach and 83.04% used the author search approach, User also indicated that the information regarding the problem faced by the respondents while using the OPAC like 74.39% faced by the problem lack of proper guidance about OPAC followed by 67.47% lack of awareness, 36.33% satisfied with the OPAC and its services. If a user lacks skills to use a library catalogue, the user may not be able to make effective use of the library resources. The studies of Oghenekaro (2018) found that users exhibit patterns of library catalogue usage, that education, experience and sophistication of library users determine the pattern or level of library catalogue use. Consequently, Amkpa and Iman (2011) emphasized that the success or failure of students to locate resources in the library depends on the skill acquired though the library instruction progamme. This is important because, in spite of the benefits which students can derive from catalogue use, its use is still poor in Nigerian university libraries. Okorafor (2006) discovered that catalogue use in Latunde Odeku Medical Library was poor. The author attributed the reason for the poor usage to lack of user education programme. Aguolu and Aguolu (2002) observed that students use catalogue mostly for educational purposes and have really helped in conducting and disseminating information resources in the library. In essence, students use the catalogue to enable them conduct research in the library. While this is a welcome development, it is important to occasionally assess the effectiveness of the library catalogue especially from the users’ point of view. It is on this note that this study investigates the use of library catalogue by undergraduate student in the university library.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter discusses the methodology that was used in conducting the research. This includes the research method that was adopted, research design, population of the study, sample size and sampling techniques, Instruments for data collection, procedures for data collection and statistical techniques that were used in analyzing the data.
Research Method Adopted for the Study
Quantitative research method was adopted for this study. Kothari (2014) portrays that quantitative method emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires and surveys or manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques. This method found appropriate for this study because it collects data with the use of questionnaire and determine the extent of adoption and use of library catalogues by student users in polytechnic in Kogi state
Research Design
For the purpose of this study, cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for this study. As observed by Nworgu (2015)cross-sectional survey research design can be defined as a study in which group of people or item are studied by collecting and analyzing data from few individuals or items considered to be through representative of the entire group. In the same vein, Brewer, Steele, & Wang (2015) established that cross-sectional survey research design gives the researcher the opportunity to gain insight into the attitudes, thoughts, and opinion of members of the population. This method is found appropriate for the study because the researcher collected data from librarians and students across the institutions to highlight the extent of adoption and use of library catalogues by students users in polytechnic. This study requires the use of sample to gather data from which certain values were calculated to estimate the value in the population.
Population of the Study
According to Razaq and Ajayi (2000), population is a collection of elements about which we wish to make an inference. This refers to the set of all elements, people and or observations that are related to a phenomenon that are of interest to the researcher. The population of this study comprised the entire accredited polytechnics in Kogi State of Nigeria. Librarians and students in the polytechnics were used as the subjects of the study. In addition, they form the major group who provides the information required for the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULT, DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
RESULT
A total of three hundred (300) copies of the questionnaire were administered to the students. Two hundred and eighty-eight (288) copies of the questionnaire were returned and found usable for analysis, giving a return rate of 96.0%.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain extent of adoption and use of library catalogues by student users in polytechnic. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of extent of adoption and use of library catalogues by student users in polytechnic
Summary
This study was on extent of adoption and use of library catalogues by student users in polytechnic. Three objectives were raised which included: To find out the students awareness about library catalogue as access point to library collection, to find out methods employ by students to consult library catalogue to search for information resources, to ascertain the extent of use of the library catalogue by students to access information resources, to identify the constraints associated with the use of library catalogue. A total of 222 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from selected students from Kogi polytechnic. The findings revealed that major constraint users of library catalogues is lack of skills in the use of library catalogue was a constraint to their use of the catalogue. lack of skills required for the use of a library catalogue was a problem to them From this, one could easily say that a majority of the students do not like to use the library catalogue when looking for books.
Conclusion
A library catalogue contained information providing many access points needed by library users looking for information in the library. The use of the catalogue makes information search easier and adequate. Periodic user education programme and training by library workers should be organized for the undergraduate students so that they can acquire the required skills to use the catalogue. This will increase the usage of the library as users will retrieve books and other information resources with ease. To better study this topic in the future, the researcher would like to suggest that a public or a combination of public and private institutions be considered as a research focus for a more general conclusion.
Recommendation
The library management should organize a periodic user education programme for the undergraduate students. This will enable them gain the needed skills to use the library catalogue maximally when searching for books and other information resources.
・ Guidelines for the use of the library catalogue should be prepared by the library authorities and paced in conspicuous points for the users to see.
・ Regular orientation programme should be organized for the undergraduate students.
・ The library management should organize demonstration on the use of the catalogue at the beginning of every semester to inculcate the culture of using the catalogue in students.
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