The Use of Library among Agricultural Science undergraduates in Kwara State, Nigeria
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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
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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Keywords
Agricultural Science