CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE OF THE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCES IN FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION LIBRARIES IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the conditions governing access and use of electronic information resources in Federal College of Education Libraries in Northern Nigeria. The objectives include: examine access points of electronic information resources, the conditions governing access and use of electronic information resources in the libraries, the types of training provided to library users for accessing electronic information resources and the challenges associated with the resources access in the libraries. The research adopted qualitative research methodology. The population of the study is the 12 college librarians. The sampled participants were 9 college librarians. Interview was used for data collections. The data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that they provided access to electronic information resources that were available on the platform of e-databases, institutional repository, e-Granary and CDS. The challenges associated with access to resources include: power outage, inadequate awareness, slow speed of network, inadequate funding, inadequate user education and information literacy training. In conclusion, the college libraries had invested in EIRs access and use of the resources to enhance research, teaching and learning. The study recommended that the library should provide users with unlimited access to the resources remotely; network  facilities should be boosted in order to have wide coverage and satisfy the increased demand from laptop users; provide training on search skills to enable users to have access and use the resources without difficulty and the management of the libraries should ensure that all the challenges, such as power outages, denial of access and network fluctuations, are minimized in order to encourage access and use of the resources and services in the libraries.