International Journal of Library Science

p-ISSN: 2168-488X    e-ISSN: 2168-4901

2020;  9(3): 71-75

doi:10.5923/j.library.20200903.03

 

A Study on the Frequency and Purpose of Use of E-Resources Regarding Level of Awareness of Students in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology

Edwin Maitato1, 2

1Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, India

2Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gaborone, Botswana

Correspondence to: Edwin Maitato, Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, India.

Email:

Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Scientific & Academic Publishing.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract

This study investigated the frequency and purpose of use of e-resources in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology. The study similarly investigated the demographic profile of students and their e-resources awareness. Descriptive survey design was used for this study. The purposeful sampling technique was adopted for this study. The sample consists of 120 respondents. The questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection and 120 questionnaires were distributed. All the questionnaires were duly completed and found usable for the study. Three research objectives were answered and one null hypothesis was tested at significance level of 0.05. The simple percent statistical tool was used to answer the research objectives and Pearson Correlation Coefficient for testing the hypotheses. The study has revealed that the students use e-resources on daily basis with the internet topping at 98.4% followed by e-Books at 85.6%. As for the purpose of use it has been found out that they use e-resources mainly for assignment, classwork and entertainment purposes with research scholars having an upper hand in their use. Moreover results obtained revealed that SVPUA&T students are quite aware of e-resources.

Keywords: Electronic resources, Awareness about electronic resources, Purpose of using electronic resources

Cite this paper: Edwin Maitato, A Study on the Frequency and Purpose of Use of E-Resources Regarding Level of Awareness of Students in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, International Journal of Library Science, Vol. 9 No. 3, 2020, pp. 71-75. doi: 10.5923/j.library.20200903.03.

1. Introduction

Information has been passed on from one person to another since ancient times and it was stored in various ways. According to Hawthorne (2008) the historical trail of e-resources began in the mid-1960s, with the introduction of machine readable catalogue which served as a directive tool to information resources, this followed the use of Online Public Access Catalogue and bibliographic databases, these were later improved to the use of information on CD ROM databases in 1980’s.
The digitization of information in print media has brought a new concept altogether in all the fields of human life and hence the creation and use of electronic resources commonly known as e-resources (Kenchakkanavar, 2014). Print-based information resources are dynamically clearing a path for information in electronic form (Sharma, 2009). According to International Federation of Libraries Association (2012) e-resources refer to those materials that require computer access, whether through a personal computer, mainframe, or handheld mobile device. They may either be accessed remotely via the internet or locally.

1.1. Objectives of the Study

1. To examine the level of awareness of available e-resources in the university.
2. To find out the frequency and purpose of use of e-resources by the students.

1.2. Hypothesis

H0: There is no relationship between SVPUA&T students’ awareness about e-resources and their use of e-resources.

2. Review of Literature

Mittal and Bala (2013) reported that majority of students know about e-resources, they additionally utilize these assets yet these assets predominantly incorporate e-books, e-journals and e-thesis, which are useful for them in their research work.
Akpojotor (2016) reported that in southern Nigeria, post graduate students of library and information science are quite aware and highly use electronic resources, this study also informed that the students are skilled in the use of electronic resources thus suggesting high level of familiarity with e-resource use in the Library.
Yebowaah and Plockey (2017) found that there are different ways to get to know about the e-resources some students got to know about the e-resources by getting their information through internal memo from the librarian, through personal interaction with librarians, through friends in the library and through the library.
Shaqour and Daher (2010) reported that most first degree students who participated in the research had medium or high use of electronic resources. The research findings indicate that more than one half of the participants had high level of electronic media use and more than one third had moderate level of electronic media use.
Tripathi et al (2016) revealed that the respondents even though were aware of the different types of electronic resources available in the university library; their use rate of these resources is low. It was also discovered that a large proportion of the respondents made use of the electronic resources mostly for research, assignment, current awareness, information acquisition, and e-mail and news acquisition.
Hoq and Haque (2018) however stated that the acceptability of electronic resources as a study tool is quite high among the students who took part in their survey. Approximately 90% of the respondents believe that e-resources are either extremely or moderately useful for their study.
Prabhakar and Rani (2017) found that the frequent use of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube among others provides alternatives to the use of libraries. This suggests that people may be using e-resources for academic purposes but not directly from libraries.
Nisha and Ali (2012) indicated that the main aim of e-resources is for retrieving information regarding research, publishing papers, assignments, presentations, seminars, and largely to update their own knowledge. The major reasons for participants in this study used the e-journals were in support of their research in IIT Delhi (63%).

3. Research Methodology

Descriptive survey design was used for this study. The purposeful sampling technique was adopted for this study. The sample consisted of 120 respondents. The questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection and 120 questionnaires were distributed. All the questionnaires were duly completed and found usable for the study. Two research objectives were answered and one null hypothesis was tested at significance level of 0.05. The simple percent statistical tool was used for the research objectives and Pearson Correlation Coefficient for testing the hypotheses.

4. Results and Discussions

4.1. Gender

Figure 1. Distribution of respondents according to their gender
Figure 1 reveals that males represent the majority (55.5%) of users of e-resources whereas females represent the minority (44.2%) of the respondents who use e-resources in this study.

4.2. Awareness

Figure 2. Distribution of respondents according to their awareness of e-resources
When asked “are you aware of the following e-Resources?” which are the Internet, e-Book, Online Database, e-Journal and CD-ROM, 100 per cent of both Under Graduates, Post Graduates and Research Scholars indicated to be aware of the internet as shown by Figure 2. On e-Book 76.5 per cent of Under Graduates, 74.2 per cent of Post Graduates and 87.5 per cent of Research Scholars indicated to be aware of e-Book. With regard to online database, 60.5 per cent of Under Graduates, 77.4 per cent of Post Graduates and 100 per cent of Research Scholars were aware of online database. Also on e-Journals 56.8 per cent of Under Graduates, 67.7 per cent of Post Graduates and 75 per cent of Research Scholars shown to be aware of e-Journals. While for CD-ROM, 32.1 per cent of Under Graduates, 48.4 per cent of Post Graduates and 62.5 per cent of Research Scholars revealed to be aware of CD-ROM. The results indicate that all students being Under Graduates, Post Graduates and Research Scholars are 100 per cent aware of the Internet making it the most e-resource the respondents are aware of whereas CD-ROM is the least e-resource the respondents are aware of.

4.3. Place of Accessing E-Resources

Figure 3. Distribution of respondents according to their places of accessing e-resources
Figure 3 reveals places of access of e-resources by respondents. It is shown that, 85 per cent of the respondents access the e-resources at the hostels, followed by 64.2 per cent of the respondents at the library, 43.3 per cent at their respective departments and 41.7 per cent at the computer laboratory. It is clear that majority (85%) of the respondents prefer to access the e-resources from their hostels followed by library with 64.2 per cent whereas minority (41.7%) of the respondents access them the computer laboratory.

4.4. Device for Accessing E-Resources

Figure 4. Distribution of respondents according to their devices used for accessing e-resources
E-resources can be accessed with various devices. Four (4) devices were listed against which respondents were allowed to choose more than 1 device which they use to access e-resources. From the observation of the results above in Figure 4, Smartphone is used by 97.5 per cent of the respondents followed by Laptop Computer at 67.5 per cent, Desktop Computer at 23.3 per cent and Tablet at 18.3 per cent. It is clearly indicated therefore that Smartphone is the mostly used device in accessing and using e-resources at a percentage of 97.5 and the least used device by the respondents is the Tablet with only 18.9 per cent.

4.5. Sources of Awareness

Figure 5. Distribution of respondents according to their sources of awareness about e-resources
Figure 5 shows sources through which the respondents came to know about the e-resources. 83 per cent of the respondents got to know about e-resources through Word of mouth (from lecturers, friends, family), followed by 66.7 per cent through self-exploration, 55 per cent through university website, 42.5 per cent through other means, 40.8 per cent through posters, 39.2 per cent through brochures, 32.5 per cent through memorandum and 30 per cent through workshop. From the above information majority (83.3%) of the respondents came to know about e-resources through word of mouth followed by Self exploration.

4.6. Purpose of Use

Table 1. Distribution of respondents according to their purpose of use of e-resources
     
Information on Purpose of use was provided by the respondents. Table 1 shows that for Assignment purpose, there is 100 per cent of Research Scholars followed by 98.7 per cent of Under Graduates and 87.1 per cent of Post Graduates. For Classwork purpose there is 100 per cent of Research Scholars followed by 88.9 per cent of Under Graduates and 77.4 per cent of Post Graduates. There is also 87.7 per cent of Under Graduates followed by 83.9 per cent and 75 per cent of Research Scholars who use e-resources for Entertainment purpose. For the purpose of keeping up to date on subject information, there is 87.5 per cent of Research Scholars followed by 83.9 per cent of Post Graduates and 65.4 per cent of Under Graduates. When it comes to the purpose of research project, 100 per cent of Research Scholars followed by 93.5 per cent of Post Graduates and 59.3 per cent of Under Graduates indicated that they use e-resources for Research project. For Seminar purpose there is 100 per cent of Research Scholars, 87.1 per cent of Post Graduates and 45.8 per cent of Under Graduates. 62.5 per cent of Research Scholars, 46.9 per cent of Under Graduates and 38.7 per cent of Post Graduates use e-resources for Term paper. From the information provided majority use e-resources for the Assignment purpose followed by Classwork whilst Term paper is the least among purposes of use.

4.7. Frequency of Use

Table 2 below shows frequency of use of five (5) types of e-resources. Internet is used by 94.2 per cent of respondents daily, 1.7 per cent once a Week, 0.8 per cent Twice a Week, 1.7 per cent Once a Month, and 1.7 per cent never use it. Online Database is used daily by 28.3 per cent, once a week by 19.2 per cent, Twice a Week by 16.7 per cent, Twice a Month by 6.7 per cent and 17.5 per cent never use it. E-Book is used by 19.2 per cent of respondents Daily, once a week by 20 per cent, Twice a Week by 18.3 per cent, once a month by 23.3 per cent, twice a month by 5 per cent and 14.2 per cent never use it. E-journals is used daily by 10.8 per cent of respondents, once a week by 22.5 per cent, twice a week by 9.2 per cent, once a month by 24.2 per cent, twice a month by3.3 per cent whereas 30.0 per cent never use it. CD-ROM is used once a month by 7.5 per cent of respondents, twice a week by 2.4 per cent, once a month by 14.2 per cent, twice a month by 2.5 per cent whereas 73.3 per cent never use CD-ROM. From the information provided by the respondents the Internet is the most frequently used type of e-resource by 98.4 per cent of respondents followed by e-Book with 85.6 per cent of respondents whereas the least used e-Resource is the CD-ROM with 26.7 per cent of respondents. The respondents use e-resources mostly daily followed by once a week, once a month, twice a week, and twice a month.
Table 2. Distribution of Respondents According To Their Frequency of Use of E-Resources by Respondents
     

5. Recommendations

1. To maintain students’ interest towards e-resources the University must ensure continuous uninterrupted power supply, which can be achieved by backup power systems such as generator and solar power.
2. High internet connectivity should be ensured in the university with multiple Wi-Fi hotspots including the students’ hostels.
3. Library should be opened during holidays also. It should be 24/7 during examination period.
4. There should be creation of awareness among students about the different e-resources.
5. Training on use of e-resources should be provided to the students.

6. Conclusions

The study reveals that males represent the majority (55.5%) whereas females represent the minority (44.2%) of the respondents. In that regard it has been revealed that the respondents are aware of the e-resources especially the internet and e-Books. It also has been concluded that students prefer accessing the e-resources from the comfort of their hostels, using primarily smartphones seconded by laptop computers. With regard to purpose of use it has been found out that students mostly use e-resources for assignments, research purposes and entertainment. The respondents use e-resources mostly on daily basis followed by once a week, once a month, twice a week, and twice a month. The internet is the mostly used e-resource followed by e-Book.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My gratitude goes to my supervisors Dr. V.K Singh, Dr. Yogesh Prasad and Dr. Deepak Sisodia for their valuable assistance and my profound appreciation goes to the Head of Department Dr. D.K. Singh who also provided his professional guidance and support. I am also thankful to the University management and all the participators who took part in this research.

References

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