AN ASSESSMENT OF ADOPTION OF E-LIBRARY USES IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY ON RAMAT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI, BORNO STATE – NIGERIA

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing the adoption of e-library and looked at whether it has enhanced research and economic development in the Ramat library of the University and to examine whether students are patronizing the library or not. The objectives of the study are to; assess whether the university has adopted the use of e-library, examine whether e-library has enhanced research and economic development; identify challenges encountered during the adoption of e-library, and investigates whether the e-library can be accessed anywhere in the University and beyond. The study adopted the use of surveys research design, where structured questionnaire was used to elucidate data from the respondents. 200 copies of the questionnaire were administered to respondents. The research has found that there were challenges in patronizing e-library, those that are not computer literate found it difficult to access e-library information, while some older people believed in managing the resources available within their reach in the old library system; some said it is cost effective, while others attributed the challenges to power failure etc. In conclusion, despite some challenges militating against the use of e-library, it was suggested that the use of ICT in library setting is of great significance and should be maintained since we are in the digital era. It was also found that students have benefited immensely from the e- library in conducting research and has generated revenue for the library in the University through sells of tickets for login into the system.