UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES FOR RESEARCH OUTPUT IN GHANAIAN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: THE CASE OF UNIVERSITY OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES LIBRARY SYSTEMS

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the Utilization of Information and Communication Technology Facilities for Research Output in Ghanaian Academic Libraries with a focus on the University for Development Studies (UDS) Library systems. The UDS has four satellite Campus libraries in the three northern regions which comprised the sample of the study. The aim of the study was to inquire into the utilization of information and communication technologies in academic library services in Ghana and its level of utilization for research output by postgraduate students. The population of the study was two hundred and fourteen (214) which comprised one hundred and fifty (150) post graduate students' respondents and sixty-four (64) professional and paraprofessional librarians. The descriptive research design was employed for the study with both qualitative and quantitative research strategies, questionnaire, structured interview schedule and observation checklist were the data collection tools used and administered to 150 respondents. Stratified sampling technique was used in choosing the sample. Relevant literature and statistics on the topic areas and secondary data were reviewed to support primary data collected. Data were analyzed qualitatively in narratives and with charts, graphs, tables, and matrices Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22, and Excel were used for the analysis. The findings revealed that, despite the seeming availability of electronic information resources in the universities as well as their benefits to university education, their effective utilization by students and faculty have been hampered by several factors such as students making low level use of electronic information resources in the library, some students not aware of the kinds of information and services that are available, do not know the source of this information as well as cannot trace and retrieve information through the use of these technologies due to being information illiterate and lack the technical knowledge. Also, lack of skilled ICT personnel and that library staff need to obtain continuous training on ICT to advance their skills so that they can easily impart the skills and information they have attained to their users.