Awareness and utilization of electronic resources in an academic library: A case study of the University of Namibia library.

Abstract

Abstract Academic libraries particularly university libraries incorporates electronic resources into their collections to make sure that students are up-to-date with recent academic knowledge. Upon the identified gaps in literature in Namibia that emphasized on the awareness and utilization of electronic resources, a case study at the University of Namibia library aimed at assessing the importance and utilization of electronic resources was conducted. Previous literatures on the topic were reviewed and discussed. To understand the experiences and perceptions of the students, a case study that was qualitative and quantitative in nature was used. The study population consisted of all the students of the University of Namibia, irrespective of the course or the year of study. The total number 60 students across the university have participated in the study. All 60 students who participated have completed the questionnaires. 20 students from the group of students who completed the questionnaire were interviewed. Both the questionnaire and a semi-structured interview containing of open-ended and closed-ended questions was used to collect data as seen in the Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 respectively. Data collected were analysed using the computer programme (Microsoft excel 2007). Figures, graphs, and tables were created as the result to display the findings. Clustering of similar themes was used to analyse qualitative data. The research revealed that the majority of students are aware that the library provides electronic resources but they hardly attended the electronic resource training classes to learn how to utilize these resources. Although the majority of students valued the importance of electronic resources for their studies, most of them only use search engines over other resources subscribed to by the library. Recommendations were made to improve the awareness, access and utilization of electronic resources in the university of Namibia library.