The Use of Library among Agricultural Science undergraduates in Kwara State, Nigeria

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Date

2014

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Department of Science Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

This study focused its attention on the use of library among university agricultural science students in Kwara State, Nigeria. Specifically, frequency of library use, resources available vis-avis impact on the academic performance of the students, factors associated with efficient use of library and the attitudes of students to library use were investigated. A well structured questionnaire was used to elicit information form 200 respondents selected through a stratified systematic random sampling from the two universities in Kwara State namely: University of Ilorin and the Kwara State University. Results revealed that majority (79%) of the students were below 25 years of age; about 57% were male, 97% unmarried, while 32.5% were fresh students. About 66% of the students used the library occasionally, 39% used information section mostly, 82% accessed agricultural books often, and 65.5% of the students visited the library during examination periods only. Also, majority of the respondents agreed that the prevailing library collections meet their research needs while most of the students exhibited a positive attitude towards the importance and need for them to adopt the use of library regularly with most of them believing that it will help them to record an increment in their examination score and general academic performance. It was further revealed that Cumulative Grade Points (r = 0.181; p = 0.032), level of the students (r = 0.129; p = 0.049), and (proposed) specialization (r = 0.158; p = 0.032) were significantly related to respondents’ attitude to library use. Major constraints factors to library use among the respondents include ageing collections and difficulty in locating books. It was recommended that lecturers should involve the students in activities that will make them to make use of the library more often thereby enhancing improvement in their academic performance.

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Agricultural Science

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