Effect of user education on law students’ use of the library: A case of the faculty of law library, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of user education on the law students’ use of the library : A case study of the faculty law library Imo State University Owerri. The survey research design was used for the study while questionnaire instrument was used for data collection. The population of the study consists of all the registered users of faculty of law library. Six research questions were answered and the analysis was done using mean scores. The findings of the study reveal that Imo State University law students have understanding of the concept of user education. The study also finds out that user education programme has positively affected the law students use of the library and their academic performance. The study identified some problems that hinder effective user education as over population, lack of infrastructure, inadequate and trained personnel, lack of instructional materials,, limited time allocated to the programme, unconducive environment and inadequate space. The study concludes that since the library occupies a central place in the achievement of educational objectives of law students, and this has made user education indispensible in the library, adequate resources should be committed to the programme to ensure that its objectives are realized Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made on how to remedy the problems.