USE OF ELECTRONIC DATABASES BY LECTURERS IN GOVERNMENT-OWNED UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

This study investigated the use of electronic databases by Lecturers in Government-owned University libraries in Anambra State Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Using a descriptive survey design, a sample of 749 respondents (570 for NAU and 179 for COOU) out of the 2,495 lecturers (1,900 in NAU, while that of COOU is 595) in the 2 government-owned universities in Anambra State was selected through Proportionate sampling technique. A 19-itemed adopted questionnaire which was validated by three experts, and having a reliability coefficient of 0.86 for parts 2, and 0.79 for part 1, was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The null hypotheses were tested at 0.5 level of significance; with the aid of z-test. The findings of the study indicated that stated databases including; EBSCO Host, AJOL, JSTOR, HINARI, AGORA, OARE, DOAJ, DATAD, EBRARY and Web of Science, are frequently used mainly for research purpose and to support teaching activities. Based on the findings, it was recommended amongst others, that greater publicity should be provided for academics and that improvement in the internet connectivity should be facilitated.