Awareness and usage of University of Ilorin library collections by undergraduate students

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the awareness and usage of University of Ilorin Library collections by undergraduate students. The relevance of a library can be determined by the extent of utilization of its collections by the users. Libraries usually acquire information materials to meet the diverse information needs of its users. The study adopted descriptive method of survey research design. The study population comprised 43,983 students which comprises all undergraduate students in the University of Ilorin. A total of 394 copies of questionnaires were administered using simple random sampling technique out of which 370 copies were returned and found useful for the study, thereby indicating a response rate of 93.9%. The data collected were analyzed using frequencies and percentage. Findings from the study revealed that high percentage of the respondents attested to the availability of textbooks, newspapers, reference materials and serials materials and also aware of the following library collections e-books, abstracts and indexes. The study found that majority of the respondents makes use of library collections for examination preparation. Furthermore, some of the challenges faced by undergraduate students in using the library’s collections include lack of awareness of some of the library’s collection, poor internet connectivity and outdated library collections. The study concluded that commonly available materials at the University of Ilorin library include: textbooks, newspapers, reference materials, serial materials. Appropriate recommendations such as embarking on awareness programmes by the Library Management, improvement in Internet connectivity and acquiring of up-to-date materials were put forward to solve the challenges highlighted by the study.