UTILIZATION OF INTERNET RESOURCES BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT OF FACULTY OF ARTS, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY ZARIA

 

 

Information is key to the wellbeing of humanity and stand as the major determinant of decision making. It is equated to other economic resources such as capital and labour in which an increased investment leads to enhanced productivity. Okiki (2011) posited that information is the pivot on which the survival of any society rests. Nowadays, information could be accessed through a range of information and communication technology tools.

Information and communication technology. It has transformed all human activities dependent on information, particularly in the area of poverty reduction, healthcare delivery and education. It has made a significant impact on teaching and learning in higher education and has improved the flow of information to academic communities. It has changed the philosophy of information from unitary to global access. The technological advancement has availed librarians the options of handling varied information sources conveniently and effortlessly. 

Internet is an electronic communications network that connects computer and organizational facilities around the world, such that the user of the connected computers could have access to information resource on the internet (Mudawi, 2017). The internet emerges as the educational tool being a good source of getting the right information and solution to problems in an academic environment. 

Internet is a large computer network linking together millions of smaller computers at numerous sites in various countries belonging to thousands of business, government, research, educational and other organisations. Internet is referred to as an ocean of information and knowledge which is now globally used in every facet of human endeavors. Several hundreds of millions Web pages, bibliographical, databases, and full-text databases are now available on the Internet (Prasher, 2003). 

The internet is a vital component in the overall services and operations of library and information centers. Application of Internet and local area network resources is changing the traditional library functions. Internet has become a basic ingredient of information accessibility and dissemination. It has the ability and capability to provide adequate, current, and timely services to information seekers wherever they are. Internet is also conceived as a rich, multi-layered, complex, ever-changing textual environment. Massagquoi (2006) state that 84 percent of journal articles and 97 percent of completed research works are now available on the internet as electronic information resources.

Electronic information resources consist of information resources provided in electronic formats such as internet, CDROM databases, e-books e-journals, Online database, Online Public Access Catalogues, and other computer –based electronic networks. Electronic information resources are now a major resource in every university library and it has significantly transformed information handling and management in academic environments and in University libraries in particular. Ellis & Oldman (2005) posited that the use of electronic resources has availed researchers and students access to global information resources, particularly the Internet for their scholarly intercourse. Electronic scientific information resources have great significance in the advancement of teaching and learning. It has radically impacted the field of Library and Information Science to such an extent that access to information is now at fingertips. It has afforded users the opportunity of staying off library and accessing e-resources from diverse ends. Sonkar (2014) listed the merits of electronic resources as follows: it can be access from any part of the globe without any geographical and time limitations, can be subscribed through consortia/ publisher, update, modification and alteration could easily be effected, availability in various files and formats immediately they are uploaded on the server saving time and money. It further posited that electronic resources can be searched, browsed, accessed, copied, downloaded fast and customized, linking feature facilitates link within the documents as well as outside of the documents, many users can use electronic resources simultaneously, and it is possible to monitor the usage of electronic information resources to some extent. Fidel (1999) posited that innumerable types of information, in a large variety of containers and in many different locations, are all available in one place.  

Electronic information resources have gained wide acceptability among university scholars due to its convenience, multi-access capability, unrestricted access to information, ability to browse the Web and timeliness. Thus, university libraries in their quest to fulfil their role as information reservoir in support of teaching, learning and research are increasingly acquiring electronic resources for optimum use of their staff and students. Undergraduate students and other members of the academic community now have access to diversified formats of information such as print, electronic, and multimedia, leading to a greater need for research assistance from librarians to achieve improved access facilities for information retrieval, and prefer at any point in time, access to a vast array of information from where selection could be made. The services of information specialists are needed for users of library to make optimum use of available resources and to locate needed information. 

A report on Nigerian academic libraries by Ifijeh (2011) observed that facilities and information resources are inadequate and students use the libraries mainly for study space. This was also corroborated by Daniel (2002) that poor quality library resource, had depressed quality of teaching, learning and research in academic institutions in Nigeria. However, in another research, Gbaje (2007) indicated that Nigerian Communications Commission’s regulatory efforts have led to increased competition and availability of voice, data and Internet applications services. This increase was expected to motivate or serves as impetus for university libraries to improve their information resources and services access through the provision of e-resources to complement print information resources and services. 

The Faculty of Arts is located within the core of the Main Campus, Samaru. As one of the twelve Faculties of Ahmadu Bello University, is reputed to have existed before the formal establishment of the University. As a foundation Faculty that soon metamorphosed into the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Faculty was, from its inception, poised to play a leading role in the administrative development and academic accomplishments of the University. It has the following department African Languages and Culture, Arabic Archeology, English, French, History, Philosophy, and Theater and Performing Art. The mission of the faculty is to advance the frontiers of learning in the arts and humanities through teaching research and dissemination of knowledge of the highest quality; establish and foster national and international integration, development and promotion of African traditions and cultures and produce high level manpower and enhance capacity building through retraining so as to respond to the challenges of the immediate community, Nigeria and the world at large. 

The mission of academic libraries is to support learning and research activities, stimulate creativity and intellectual development and acquisition of knowledge. The Ahmadu Bello University Libraries in living up to this expectation. A high percentage of the budget is devoted to acquisition of library resources. The library has an internet library where students could have access to internet resources such as E-databases, e-books, e-journals, online database, and Online Public Access Catalogues. Internet information resources are powerful teaching and learning tools in higher education. They are efficient for activating students, and they provide tools for life-long learning. Internet provides the platform for global information accessibility and allows students to have access to huge amounts of information and a number of free applications software. 

Any tertiary institution especially universities should provide internet facilities within the university vicinity so as to facilitate teaching, learning and research which serve basically as the purpose of establishing university. It is expected that every university should encourage access and utilization of internet resources and services among its students through sufficient number of terminals that could be accessible to students virtually anywhere by numerous means within the university and provide adequate electricity supply and optimum bandwidth capacity that provide speed access to internet connectivity. Limited access to online information resources in this information age will greatly affect the students in different ways. For instance, they will find it difficult to do research and even write some of their assignments. They would be limited to only the information their lecturers have to offer alone. And even if they graduate, they may soon forget what they learnt because they have not learnt how to learn i.e., they have not developed the ability for life-long learning. The study by Adomi (2004) reveals that online information resources have not been used extensively by undergraduate students in Nigeria. Furthermore, with personal observation by researcher noted that majority of the undergraduate students made little or no use of electronic resources provided by the university library despite the high cost of these resources. This research, therefore, seeks to investigate the challenges the undergraduate students of the faculty of arts Ahmadu Bello University are having with the use of internet resources so as to provide practical interventions to improve access and use of these resources which the university library provides.

The following are the research questions raised for this study 

The aim of the study is to establish efficient, effectiveness and promoting the use of internet resources by students of Faculty of Arts. This study will help in identify the types of internet resources available to use by students of Faculty of Arts and feel comfortable using. And also try to find out the various aspects of searching techniques that motivates them or discourages in using the internet resources. It is expected that at the end of this research the faculty of arts and the university will gain insight on the difficulties that students are facing in the use of internet resources for their research work and other academic activities. 

The study covered only the undergraduate students of Faculty of Arts Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and examines the use of internet resources by students

The following terms are defined in the context in which they have been used in this study: 

E-resources: Information materials that are in electronic format such as CD, Computer readable, database, web databases, Internet, etc. 

Print: Information material whose information content is printed on paper using ink and bound together or not in form of books, journals, magazines, indexes, pamphlet etc. 

Services: These include loans, reading spaces, reprographic services, referral, interlibrary services and directional and personal assistance offered to users to facilitate use of information resources in the library.