ICT LITERACY SKILLS AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AS DETERMINANTS OF ELECTRONIC RESOURCES USE AMONG THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE SELECTED UNIVERSITIES THE EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA A Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Library and Information Science, in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, University of Fort Hare. Oluwayemi IbukunOluwa OLATOYE (Student No: 201516627) January, 2019 Supervisors: Prof. E M Ondari-Okemwa Prof. F H Nekhwevha Dr. N Muchaonyerwa i DECLARATION I, OLATOYE, Oluwayemi IbukunOluwa (Mrs.) hereby declare that the content of this thesis is my original work and has not been previously submitted to any other university for any other degree in the social sciences or in its entirety. All published and unpublished materials I consulted in the course of writing this thesis are duly acknowledged. Signature: --------------------------------------- Date: 08 February 2019 DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to God Almighty, my Maker and Lord. I also dedicate this thesis to my late father, Mr Samuel Sunday Adesegun Odularu, who served as the former Acting Librarian, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, and transited to glory on July 23, 2016. I thank you for your love and care. Continue to rest in perfect peace. I also dedicate this thesis to my mother, Mrs. Alice Taiwo Odularu, for her endless love. I sincerely dedicate this thesis to my husband, Tolulope and children (Jemimah and Jeremiah), for their continued support and understanding. You are greatly loved and appreciated. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This Doctoral degree (PhD) has been a source of inspiration in my life and a source of motivation to other researchers and students that are limiting themselves. It would not have been possible to achieve this degree without the support, guidance, encouragement and prayers I received. I owe my deepest gratitude to God Almighty, the Beginning and the End, the Unchangeable Changer and Everlasting Father that turns shame to glory, and whose faithfulness I have enjoyed from day to day. The completion of this degree is all by His grace and guidance. I will forever praise, appreciate, thank, worship and serve You. Enkosi kakulu, my Maker. I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Prof E M Ondari-Okemwa that intervened regarding my coming, admission and acceptance at the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Fort Hare for the pursuance of this degree. In addition, I greatly appreciate my second supervisor, Prof Fhulu Nekhwevha, for the advice, mentorship support and focus he provided during the course of this programme. I also appreciate my third supervisor, Dr Ndakasharwa Muchaonyerwa, for her advice and motivation, as well as the valuable correction you made to my thesis. This degree would have been an impossibility for me without my supervisors. I thank all the three supervisors for the encouragement and cordial relationship, which I enjoyed because of working with them. Many thanks to them for allowing me grow as a researcher. I wish to sincerely appreciate my parents, late Mr. & Mrs Samuel Sunday Adesegun Odularu for giving birth to me. I thank my late father for his encouragement, care and iii support till his last breath, and my loving mum, who words are not enough to appreciate. I thank her for the prayers, care advice and love. God will keep you, mum. Also, I thank my big sister, Funmilayo, for her support during my programme. You are a caring mother. My appreciation also goes to Dr Ayo for processing this admission, my accommodation as well as the encouragement I received from her. I deeply thank and appreciate my brother (a.k.a. the second dad), Prof. Gbadebo Odularu, for your advice, wise counsel, care and encouragement. This also applies to my sisters, Kemi Ayandele and Tolulope Fagbamila. I also thank the entire Odularu, Olatoye, Adedugbe, Ayandele, Fagbamila, Aduroja and Abimbola-Oluwa families for being there. Thanks so much for everything. May one love continually keep us together. Furthermore, I want to show my greatest appreciation to my love, sweetheart, my best in all, good father, Tolulope Olatoye. Thanks so much for your love, support, care, understanding, motivation, patience, prayers and quality advice. I can’t express my appreciation to you, love. Thanks so much for your immense contribution to the success of this degree. Also, I want to thank my precious children, Jemimah and Jeremiah Olatoye. You are the best gift in my life, and thanks for contributing to the success of this degree. I pray for God’s protection and blessings for you all. I would like to also express my appreciation to Dr Akinwunmi Odeyemi (a.k.a. Baba Timi- Timo) for the encouragement and support provided in the course analyzing my research data. I also appreciate Mr Festus Khayundi for his care during my programme, as well as Dr Akeem Oyelana for his contributions to this research. My special thanks also go to everyone who participated in the course of data collection of this research. This PhD study would not have been possible without the cooperation and support extended by iv management information librarians and undergraduate students at the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes. My gratitude goes to the Registrar, Rhodes University, Dr Stephen Fourie for your hospitality and kind-heartedness. I wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my wonderful Daddy and Mummy in Alice, Prof. Anthony and Prof. (Mrs.) Omobola Okoh and family, for their warmth, concern kindheartedness and being there at all times. May God continually bless you abundantly. My time at Fort Hare was also greatly enriched by the fellowship and communion I enjoyed at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG, Alice Area). You’ve been a wonderful family of God in a distant land. Last but not least, I thank others that I might have failed to mention, and have supported me along the way. God bless you all. v ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ACRL………………………………………...Association of College Research Librarians AJOR…………………………….…………..American Journal of Operations Research AJOL…………………………………………African Journal Online AGORA………………………………..…….Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture ANOVA………………………………………Analysis of Variance BI……………………………………………...Behavioural Intention CBET………………………………………....Competency-Based Education and Training CD…………………………………………….Compact Disc CD-R………………………………………….Compact Disc Recordable CD-RW………………………………………..Compact Disc ReWritable CD-ROM………………………………………Compact Disc Read-Only Memory CT………………………………………….....Computer Technology DICTS………………………………………...Directorate of ICT Support DOAJ……………………………………...….Directory of Open Access Journals DOI……………………………………………Diffusion of Innovation Theory v DVD…………………………………………...Digital Versatile Disc EBSCOhost…………………………………. Elton B. Stephens Company Host Databases EIR…………………………………………….Electronic Information Resources E-JOURNALS………………………………...Electronic Journals EIS…………………………………………….Electronic Information Sources ERIC…………………………………………..Education Resources Information Centre ETDs…………………………………………..Electronic Thesis and Dissertations EIF…………………………………………….Electronic Information Floor HEIs…………………………………………..Higher Education Institutions HINARI…………………………………….....Health Inter-Network Access to Research Initiative HTML……………………………………………. Hyper-Text Markup Language ICT…………………….................................Information Communications Technology IDT…………………………………………….Innovation Diffusion Theory INTERNET……………………………………Inter-connected Network IS……………………………………………....Information Systems IT……………………………………………...Information Technology JSTOR………………………………………..Journal Storage vi LAN…………………………………………...Local Area Network LanTEEAL……………………………………Local Area Network of the Essential Electronic Agricultural Library NPC……………………………………………National Population Commission NUL………………………………………….National University of Lesotho OARE………………………………………. Online Access to Research in the Environment OPAC……………………………………….Online Public Access Catalogue PEOU…………………………………….…Perceived Ease of Use PhD………………………………………….Doctor of Philosophy PMC…………………………………………PubMed Central Journal RAM..……………………………………….Random Access Memory RU………………………………………......Rhodes University SAGE………………………….…………….SAGE Journal Publications SN……………………………………………Subjective Norm SPSS………………………………………...Statistical Package of the Social Sciences TAM………………………………………….Technology Acceptance Model TEEAL……………………………………….The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library TPB…………………………………………..Theory of Planned Behavior vii UEAB…………………………………………University of East Africa Baraton UFH………………………………………..…University of Fort Hare UNESCO………………………………….…United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization URL………………………………………….. Uniform Resource Locator USA…………………………………………..United States of America VCD…………………………………………..Video Compact Disc WAN…………………………………………..Wide Area Network WHO………………………………………….World Health Organization Wi-Fi…………………………………………..Wireless Fidelity WWW………………………………………….World Wide Web viii ABSTRACT In today’s world, information is the foundation on which every strata in society is built and established. As we are in the jet age, the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) is sine-qua-non to academic development. It is equally important to acquire skills and build capacity in ICT applications, as well as reflect on the demographic factors that determine the utilization of electronic resources among the undergraduate respondents. ICT has also evolutionalized professionalism in librarianship by providing delivery of appropriate, suitable and value-added