ATTITUDE OF STUDENTS TOWARDS THE USE OF LIBRARY FACILITIES

1.1 Introduction

Academic libraries are valuable facilities in any learning institution because they provide an environment for students to advance their knowledge. Libraries are also valuable to teaching staff because they provide an enabling research environment (Saunders 2015). Therefore, they are considered the “heart” of a learning institution. Libraries must be structured to support these learning needs. Nonetheless, an interesting observation is that there is an underutilization of the library facilities in most institutions (Chen 2015; Ibrahim & Sakiyo 2015), which is counterproductive to the goals and objectives of the library department with regard to enhancing access to information. Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the irregular patterns of library resource usage in learning institutions.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

The academic libraries have been described as the “heart” of the learning community providing a place for students and faculty to conduct their research and advance their knowledge. In the education system, an academic library is the centre of academic life. A university library or any library attached to an institution of higher education exists to support the goal of its parent organization, since university libraries are an integral part of the higher education system, they should provide support services for the formal educational programs as well as for facilities for research and for generation of new knowledge. It is important of any information professional working in an academic or any other library to know the real needs of the user community.

Understanding the needs of the target group will help to develop the diverse strategies that are appropriate to obtain effective results. Since the university library is committed to provide excellent resources and services, it has to develop an ongoing dialog with its user community. On the other hand academic libraries have to improve the quality of their service to survive in this volatile competitive environment. Therefore it is crucial to evaluate the library service from customer’s point of view at the same time order to set up user-centered service, the library needs to know the user and user needs. One of the main tools that can be used to evaluate and assess the library services is the user survey. It is impossible to assess the changing needs of the clientele unless user surveys are conducted to determine user needs and their reading interests.

A library, strives to play a leading role in the teaching, learning and research activities of its parents institution, it should be aggressively dynamics in the provision of its services and manned by personnel of the highest quality, who possess adequate background, appropriate professional training and experience and the proper orientation to meet the challenges of modern university academic, use expectation from any information system is to make available directly or remotely and in real time the needed information, formal notwithstanding, in the university environment the library a major information providing system support’s teaching learning and research with information materials of various types (Anunobi and Edoka 2010).

Computers in libraries have proved useful in assisting the information processing aspect of traditional library, operations like acquisitions, registration of readers, circulation functions and keeping track of reading and research interests of user. Thus repetitive and untie data processing tasks which characterized most library, are effectively and efficiently handle by computer. The computerization of students library services brings with it many benefits meant to improve the quality of services that the library renders to its users some of the benefit of library facilities includes, enhanced productivity, increased output, more productive tasks.

The facilities of library, therefore, therefore, lead to a change in the way the library offers services to its clientele. Change is a natural phenomenon in growth and envelopment. Humans being are known to respond differently to changing situations thus, reflecting in their attitudes towards the object of change fear of change is similarly a natural human reaction every human being develops control over familiar situations and in most cases, feels comfortable with the familiar than the unfamiliar.

A computerized library comprises not only facilities and formats’ but cuso the essential human elements users and staff, the success of any library system, after all, rests not on how well the design work on paper in abstract, but on how effectively they can use it. And it is the users of the library that embrace or reject the new technologies, fulfill or frustrate, the intentions of system designers and experience anxiety and disorientation, as a result of their use attitudes are ending patterns of belief, believed to be predictive of behaviour reflecting people’s biases inclination or tendencies that influence their response to situation, activities, people or programme goals. Students varied in their information needs and their seeking attitudes, they constitute a part of society who is fortunate to have access at little or no cost themselves a variety of computerized services in their institutions library. This is made possible because universities use considerable proportions of their budgets to provide these technologies for their students to assists in the teaching, learning and research processes. One of the major barriers is implementing new innovation in libraries is only technical but also attitudinal as positive attitude towards; technology contributes to the better performance in a technologically advanced environment. However, little is known about student’s attitude towards computerized services in their institution libraries and without a better understanding, it remains difficult for these libraries to effectively provide these service5s for their users.

Therefore, in Ekiadolor-Benin where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Attitude of Students towards the Use of Library Facilities.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed the use of library facilities cut’s across all professions in any society. Awareness of the need for the use of libraries facilities has become very popular. In the library, a computerized cataloguing system enable the use of centrally produce bibliographic records other such services offered to users in library include e-mails, online database/electronic journal access co-nontechnology and OPAC.

The role of the information providers to understand, the need of the users their attitudes towards seeking their needs only then can users optimize the benefits that such services tend to offers. However, not much is known about the attitudes of students of College of Education Ekiadolor towards the facilities in the institutions library, it therefore becomes imperative to take closer look at those attitudes, which have an effect on how students make use of the facilities and will in turn affect the overall success of the library’s facilities and programme.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Attitude of Students Towards the Use of Library Facilities using College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To learn what library services, resources and facilities undergraduates use of their learning and research.
2. To know how satisfied students are with available resources and services in the library.
3. To examine the student’s attitude toward computerized library services.
4. To find out the term of provision of the services to the library users and all the hindrances to the use of the services in the library and how such could be curbed.
5. To suggest remedies that may help the undergraduates to use the library more effectively.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Is there any difference between library facilities and the academic performance of students?
• Does students satisfaction in the available resou9rces and service produced in library?
• Does students develop positive attitude towards the use of library?
• Does a barrier discourage students from use of library?
• Does a library user require any particular skill to be use library facilities?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant difference between library facilities and the academic performance of students
• H1: There is a significant difference between library facilities and the academic performance of students

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no significant barrier that discourage students from the use of library
• H1: There is a significant barrier that discourage students from the use of library

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1.7 Significance of Study

The library will subsequently deliver information to literacy programs throughout students’ educational programs in an ongoing effort to engage them and to get them involved in tertiary institution wide activities. The research will examine what impact the library efforts to engage students in library and information use and their learning and research has had by understanding their pre-university experience, expectations and knowledge and skills about libraries and information use.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Attitude of Students towards the Use of Library Facilities using College of Education, Ekiadolor-Benin as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Library: A library is a building or room containing collection of books periodicals, and sometimes fits and recorded music for use or borrowing by the public or the members of an institution it can be maintain by a public body, an institution, a corporation, or a private individual, public and institution, collections and services may be untended for use by people who choose not to or cannot afford to purchase on extensive collection themselves.

Information: Information can be define as data that is accurate and timely specific and organized a purpose, presented with in a context that guides it meaning can relevance, and can lead to an increase in understanding and decrease in uncertainty. Information is valuable because it can affect behaviour decision, or an outcome.

Services: A valuable action deed or effort performed to satisfy a need or to fulfill a demand services can be renter in various from such as banking lodging and Health care services.

Facilities: General, permanent semi-permanent or temporary, commercial or industrial property such as a building plant, or structure built, established, or installed for the performance of one or more specific activities or functions.

Academy: A school or college for special training.

Student: The word “Student” means any person who is ready to learn and engage in learning activities.

Environment: Environment can be seen as the totality of the natural and artificial (manmade) phenomenon having direct.

Performance: Is the act of performing a play, concert or some other form of entertainment.

Learning: Learning is basically a process of adapting to and improving the environment. What is learned can be measured either by those things that we observe in the behaviour of the individual.