Electronic library resource usage: A case of a South African university.
Mashaba, Makhanani Cynthia
Mashaba, Makhanani Cynthia
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Abstract
University libraries are being transformed from printed to electronic resources; most information now being published online. Literature indicates that users are not bound to be
present in the library building for them to meet their information needs: users can access the library at any time and place of their choice. A gap was noted within empirical studies which recognised the factors influencing electronic library resource usage in a South African university. Such studies are very popular, particularly to academic institutions. The goal of this study was to investigate the electronic library resources (e-library resources) usage by postgraduate students. Research has been conducted to enlighten online library usage;
however, the determining factors of the usage are not visibly articulated. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) was used to comprehend the relationships
between the perceptions on external factors and the behavioural intentions of users to accept and use e-library resources. UTAUT consists of four external factors, which are performance
expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The external factors were measured and analysed. This research adopted a descriptive survey research,
and used a quantitative approach. The study population was drawn from a multi-campus local university community in South Africa. The targeted population encompassed all postgraduate students currently enrolled in the seven faculties of the university. Online questionnaires distributed through Survey Monkey to students’ email addresses, as well as document analysis, were used for data collection. In this study, 786 postgraduate students were drawn from the population through census. Data was analysed using Microsoft Excel and exported into STATA/SE 14.0. Results of the study revealed that users had positive perceptions, believing that the e-library resources were useful to their jobs, and that such could assist them in being more effective in their studies. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions were found to have a significant influence on behavioural intention to use the system. However, the moderating variables, which are age, gender, faculty, and level of study were found to have weaker relationships with behavioural intention to use the system. The results further revealed that there is ineffective usage of e-library resources by postgraduate students. This is attributed to lack of awareness and training, difficulty in finding relevant information, not having Internet access at home, and low bandwidth. This study recommends that university management provide technical infrastructure support interventions, such as easy access, and improving of Internet connectivity. Such will enhance the use of electronic library resources. This study further recommends that training on the use of e-library resources should be offered and even made a prerequisite for all new registered postgraduate students. It is further emphasized that lecturers should encourage students to use e-library resources more often.
Description
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Technologiae: Business Information Systems in the Department of Informatics, Faculty of Information and Communication at the Tshwane University of Technology.
Date
2020-12-01
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Electronic library resources (e-library resources), University libraries, E-resource usage, UTAUT, Postgraduate students, Information literacy.