Awareness, Access and Use of Academic Databases by Faculty Members: a Case Study of Bayero University Library
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International Journal of Library & Information Science (IJLIS) Volume 6, Issue 3, May–June 2017, pp. 13–26, Article ID: IJLIS_06_03_003 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJLIS?Volume=6&Issue=3 Journal Impact Factor (2016): 8.2651 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com ISSN Print: 2277-3533 and ISSN Online: 2277-3584 © IAEME Publication AWARENESS, ACCESS AND USE OF ACADEMIC DATABASES BY FACULTY MEMBERS: A CASE STUDY OF BAYERO UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Muhammad Yusuf MLS University Library, Bayero University, Kano P.M.B 3011 Kano, Nigeria Binta L. Farouk Ph.D Department of library and information science, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria ABSTRACT The study investigated the awareness, access to and use of academic databases by faculty members of Bayero University, Kano. The aim was to examine their level of awareness, accessibility and extent of use of the academic databases in the library. The study adopted a cross sectional survey research design. A sample of 142 respondents was drawn out of a population of 1,420 academic staff of the university. Questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. One Hundred and Forty Two (142) copies of the questionnaire were administered but one hundred and ten (110) were returned and used for the study. Descriptive statistic was used to analyze the data collected. The study found that majority of the academic staff of the University were aware of the E-databases available in the library and their level of awareness varies in respect of the databases available. Source(s) of their awareness include contact with the University Librarian/ Library staff and University Bulletin. Majority of the academic staff access the E- databases in the library. Strategies used in accessing the databases include using ID login and password. They used online databases “sometimes” but “never” used the offline databases. The study recommended that the library should increase the level of awareness of users on the offline electronic databases available in the library through active publicity programmes. Also, to develop plan that will improve use of electronic databases by users of the library. Key words: Faculty members, academic databases, Bayero University Kano, awareness, access and use. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJLIS 13 [email protected] Muhammad Yusuf MLS and Binta L. Farouk Ph.D Cite this Article: Muhammad Yusuf MLS and Binta L. Farouk Ph.D, Awareness, Access and Use of Academic Databases by Faculty Members: A Case Study of Bayero University library. International Journal of Library & Information Science, 6(3), 2017, pp.13–26. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJLIS?Volume=6&Issue=3 1. INTRODUCTION Technological developments have transformed traditional library services and introduce numerous types of electronic resources which are attractive for the academic libraries. This technological revolution witnessed in the last few decades has broadened the walls of libraries’ operation and services. As a result of this, some resources of the libraries have been changed from physical to electronic (Bell, 2009). Among others, these tremendous developments which came about as result of advances in information and communication technology brought the introduction of electronic databases. E-databases are collections of electronic information resources by publishers from various fields and disciplines which can be accessed online or off-line (Kwadzo, 2015). Some of these databases are provided free of charge to libraries in developing countries by their publishers or vendors. These e-databases are categorized into Textual, Numerical, Open source, Commercial, Bibliographic, Non Bibliographic, Online and Offline etc (Hendeson, 2010). Historically, e-databases were in existence in libraries for a very long period. Computerized database started in the 1960s, and the first databases to go online in the 1970s were bibliographic as well as the introduction of the CD-ROM format in the early 1980s. Since then there has been a tremendous growth in the number and scope of online databases. Worldwide, there are no accurate statistics for the total number of databases in existence. As from 1997, it was possible to identify over 10,000 databases including those on CD-ROM (Walker and James 1999). Electronic databases are valuable tools for study, learning and research. It can provide many advantages over traditional print-based resources: they contain current information because they are updated frequently, they offer advanced search capabilities, they offer flexibility in the storage of the results, and they enable access to information without the restrictions of time and location. 1.1. Background on Bayero University Kano and its Library Bayero University Kano is located in the central city of Kano State established by the federal government of Nigeria in August 1975. The Bayero University Kano has grown from two faculties in 1976 to thirteen faculties (13) with about ninety four (94) academic departments. It has about one thousand four hundred and twenty (1420) academic staff. In fact, university on its own cannot achieve the desired goals without a vibrant university library. A university library is therefore a partner, an important segment and a factor in achieving academic excellence. In this regard, Bayero university library was established. The library did not make much progress initially. Until in 1999, the library committee concluded that Bayero University Library was left behind in this critical area, and thus set up a sub- committee of few members to go round some Nigerian universities that have fully automated their library systems, assess their level of success, discuss with the appropriate officials and come up with a substantial report. History has shown that, Bayero university library started the services of providing full text electronic databases with an E-Granary server containing of about 2.2 million documents in October 2006. This marks the beginning when the users of library started accessing and using full text electronic databases in the library. Since then the library has continued to subscribe to electronic databases for the benefit of its users. (Katsina, 2004). http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJLIS 14 [email protected] Awareness, Access and Use of Academic Databases by Faculty Members: A Case Study of Bayero University library 1.2. Statement of the Problem Electronic databases (e-databases) have become an established component of many academic libraries’ collection. These databases contain journal articles, e-books, reference sources, reports, conference papers among others. In recent years, various electronic databases have been used by academics, teachers, and students in higher education. To a certain extent, electronic versions have become preferable to print books and journal articles. However, in a study on awareness and usage of electronic databases by Geography and Resource Development Information Studies Graduate Students in the University of Ghana, Kwadzo (2015) stated that “in spite of the value of e-database and ensuring that, it is available for use by libraries to their clients, studies have shown that usage is not up to level expected or is simply underutilized”. It is against this background that, this study investigated access and use of Academic databases by Faculty members of B.U.K Library, with view to identify the level of awareness, accessibility and extent of use of electronic databases by academic staff of the university. 1.3. Research Questions Based on the statement of the problems and in order to achieve the objectives of this study, the study raised the following questions: • What is the level of awareness of the faculty members of Bayero University Kano with the Academic databases available in the University library? • How do the faculty members of Bayero University access the Academic databases available in the library? • What strategies do the faculty members use to access Academic databases available in the library understudy? • To what extent do the faculty members use the Academic databases in the library understudy? 1.4. Research Objectives The major objective of this study was to investigate access and use of academic databases by the academic staff of Bayero University Kano. The specific objectives of the study are stated as follows: • To determine the level of awareness of the faculty members of Bayero university Kano with the Academic databases available in the University library. • To find out how do the academic staff of Bayero University Kano access the electronic databases available in the University library. • To find out the strategies use by the academic staff in accessing the e-databases available in the library? • To find out the extent of use of the electronic databases by the academic staff in the library understudy. 2. SCOPE OF THE STUDY This study was focused on access and use of academic databases by faculty members in Bayero University Kano. Notwithstanding, there are different kinds of academic databases available which are used for different purposes by the faculty members. However, this study covers only academic databases that are available in Bayero University library. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJLIS 15 [email protected] Muhammad Yusuf MLS and Binta L. Farouk Ph.D The study is limited to Bayero University, Kano. It is considered that, the university has library which support the learning, teaching and research function of the university. Hence, it is worthy to conduct research on. 2.1. Literature Review A lot of research studies were conducted on awareness of e-databases in university libraries by academic staff. For Instance: Upadhyay and Chakraborty (2011) study show that Science Direct was ranked (84.37%) and IEL online are the two most popular online journal databases packages about which researcher’s and faculty members are aware. Spring links. (56.25%), Taylor and Farncis (46.87%), Science (46.87%, Nature (31.25%), Royal Society of Chemistry (28.12%) are the other important journals databases indicated by respondents which are licensed through UGC-infonet. In the same view, Chandran (2013) indicated that, library users at Siva Institute of Frontier Technology India had 95.12% awareness of e-resources.