Utilization of Reference Resources by Undergraduate Students of Library and Information Science for Effective research in University Libraries in Enugu State

Utilization of Reference Resources by Undergraduate Students of Library and Information Science for Effective research in University Libraries in Enugu State

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine the application of reference coffers by undergraduate scholars of library and information wisdom for effective exploration in university libraries in Enugu state. Specifically, the study examined if there are reference and information services and coffers available to scholars. The study also find out the extent the scholars use the colorful bibliographic tools in their hunt for information. The study further determine the extent of availability of reference and information services and coffers. Incipiently, the study determine if there’s a purpose for the application of information services and coffers by scholars. The study employed the check descriptive exploration design. A aggregate of 30 responses were validated from the check. From the responses attained and anatomized, the findings revealed that there’s a reference and information services and coffers available to scholars in Enugu state university of technology. Also, scholars use the colorful bibliographic tools in their hunt for information to a veritably high extent. likewise, availability of information coffers and services is available to a veritably high extent to scholars of Enugu state university of technology. Incipiently, scholars make use of the information coffers and services in the University library. The study thereby recommend that library authorities should as a matter of policy apply library exposure to its scholars for effective application of library coffers. Also, there is also need to motivate the scholars to insure that the bibliographic tools for information hunt will be used to a high extent. likewise, University operation, stakeholders and government should as much as possible give installations in the University libraries so that the information services and coffers will be accessible to scholars to high extent and inversely the chance of scholars using the different coffers and services of the library will remarkably increase.

Chapter One

Preface

Background of the Study

University libraries are important sources of reference accoutrements for high- quality tutoring, literacy, and exploration. Indexing and abstracting services in print and electronic media make reference accoutrements available and accessible. The ultimate purpose of reference coffers is to deliver precise and timely information. Reference coffers are information- bearing means in the form of persons, prints, and electronic lines that source librarians use to offer druggies with access to particular information. labor force, similar as reference librarians and support staff; print accoutrements , similar as wordbooks, encyclopedias, exploration studies, directories, lives, and corpora; information reclamation tools, similar as indicators, objectifications, bibliographies, and canons; and electronic accoutrements , similar as computers, projectors, CD- ROMS, and the internet, as well ase-journals, databases, ande-prints Unlike other library particulars, druggies value reference coffers because they include data gathered from a variety of sources and structured for simple and rapid-fire access for a particular purpose. They aren’t intended to be read from cover to cover or espoused from the library, but rather to be employed as exploration tools( Abdulahi & Mamza, 2014). Reference coffers are golden mines in the reference section, and their worth to druggies seeking applicable information is valuable( Attama, 2013). Given the impact of these coffers on pupil academic achievement, university libraries must employ good workers with a love for humanity, as well as services that will help in furnishing simple access to reference accoutrements if druggies can make excellent use of these rich coffers. The extent to which druggies can pierce and use reference coffers that are physically or electronically published in the bibliographic macrocosm to gain specific and accurate information in the library through indicators, objectifications, bibliographies, and canons is appertained to as reference resource availability. Availability, according to Azubuike( 2014), is the” capability to acquire access to and benefit from some system or association.” According to Azubuike, the notion frequently focuses on the outgrowth( getting happiness from the product) rather than the styles. The degree to which library druggies use and profit from reference coffers in colorful forms to meet their information conditions is appertained to as reference resource application. scholars’ capability to use technology effectively improves their knowledge and overall academic achievement. According to Mucai( 2013), operation is defined as” taking advantage of and benefiting from a thing.” As a result, using proper coffers is critical to achieving educational objects. The quantum and quality of information acquired, as well as the quality of druggies’ exploration affair, are determined by use. As a result, there’s a need to probe how undergraduate library and information wisdom scholars in Enugu State use reference accoutrements to conduct productive exploration in university libraries.

Statement of the Problem

While there may be a high grade of reference and information coffers available at the University library, it’s essential that these coffers be made available to scholars on a regular base. Given their high prestige, the quantum to which reference and information coffers are made available, and the extent to which scholars use them, is unclear. On the other hand, while the University library may not be perfect in terms of reference and information services, it’s doubtful that the available accoutrements aren’t made available to scholars within the limits of their vacuity, and that scholars don’t make full use of the coffers that are available. still, according to other academics, similar as Aguolu( 2002) and Ugah( 2008), the vacuity of information coffers doesn’t always indicate availability or application due to a variety of reasons. This demonstrates that the vacuity and application of coffers varied significantly. This is inversely concerning, as it necessitates further exploration into these issues in order to bridge the gap between vacuity, availability, and consumption. It’s also pivotal to determine the degree of adequacy, availability, use, utility, and pleasure entered from scholars’ use of coffers. As a result, the study’s explanation becomes clear there’s a need to estimate how undergraduate library and information wisdom scholars in Enugu state use reference accoutrements for productive exploration in university libraries.

Ideal of the Study

The ideal of the study is to examine the application of reference coffers by undergraduate scholars of library and information wisdom for effective exploration in university libraries in Enugu state. Specifically the study seeks to

To identify if there’s a reference and information services and coffers available to scholars in Enugu state University of technology.

To find out the extent the scholars use the colorful bibliographic tools in their hunt for information in Enugu state University of technology.

To determine the extent of availability of reference and information services and coffers in Enugu state University of technology.

To determine if there’s a purpose for the application of information services and coffers by scholars of Enugu state University of technology.

exploration Questions

The following exploration questions were formulated to guide the study

Is there a reference and information services and coffers available to scholars in Enugu state University of technology?

To what extent do the scholars use the colorful bibliographic tools in their hunt for information?

What’s the extent of availability of information coffers and services to scholars of Enugu state University of technology?

Do scholars make use of the information coffers and services in the Enugu state University of technology libraries?

Significance of the Study

The study will examine Application of Reference coffers by Undergraduate scholars of Library and Information Science for Effective exploration in University Libraries in Enugu State. Hence the study will be significant in the following ways

Librarian The librarians as information providers will profit from the result as they will ameliorate on the approach for information provision to scholars. They will also identify information coffers that are lacking and give them in their colorful institutions.

Academia

The study will be significant to the academic community as it’ll serve as a companion to other experimenters in other Universities who would want to conduct analogous exploration in the area in their separate countries as well as add to the being literature in the field of librarianship especially in the area of availability and application of reference and information services and coffers in the Universities.

compass of the Study

This study will identify the types of reference and information services and coffers available to scholars. The study will also Find out the extent the scholars use the colorful bibliographic tools in their hunt for information. The study will further determine the extent of availability of reference and information services and coffers. Incipiently, the study will determine the purpose for the application of information services and coffers by scholars. Hence the study is demarcated to Enugu state.

Limitation of the study

In the course of carrying out this study, the experimenter endured some constraints, which included time constraints, fiscal constraints, language walls, and the station of the repliers.

In addition, there was the element of experimenter bias. Then, the experimenter held some impulses that may have been reflected in the way the data was collected, the type of people canvassed or tried , and how the data gathered was interpreted later. The eventuality for all this to impact the findings and conclusions couldn’t be played down.

More so, the findings of this study are limited to the sample population in the study area, hence they may not be suitable for use in comparison to other companies and locales.