Students demographic variables as determinants of utilisation of information resources among undergraduates of universities in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

This study was undertaken to find out the influence of students’ demographic variables on utilization of information resources among undergraduates in universities in South-South Nigeria. The objectives were to determine whether gender, age and academic level of students influence utilization of information resources. To guide the study three hypotheses were formulated. Related literature and empirical studies were also reviewed. Survey research design was also adopted to guide the study. The stratified random sampling technique was adopted in this study to get the universities and accidental sampling technique to get data from the students.  A total of one thousand students were used in this study.  A questionnaire was used to collect data from the students.  One-way analysis of variance and independent t-test were used for data analyses.  The result showed that academic level of students influences utilization of information resources, gender and age of students did not significantly influence utilization of library information resources. It was concluded that students should have positive outlook in all their life’s endeavours including their academic pursuits so that they can maximally utilize the quantum of information resources available in the Libraries in Nigerian Universities for improved academic performance and competitive global academic pursuit. Keywords: ICT Innovation, Electronic Resources, User Education, Academic Libraries, Knowledge generation, Demographic Characteristics.