Use of polytechnic library by students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Nigeria

Abstract

The study determines the extent of use of information resources provided in Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Library, Owo, Nigeria by the students. The research design is descriptive design survey. The study utilises structured questionnaire to obtain data. The population of the students is 6,550 and sample size of 1050 was chosen as the participants. A purposive sampling technique was adopted. A total of 1,020 copies of questionnaire from 1050 administered were returned and correctly filled, which produce returned rate of 97.14%. Data extracted were analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that more than half of the participants always use library. Majority of the participants visit library to use social media (84.02%), 83.91% use it to consult library books, while 83.83% use it to do various assignments. The results revealed that 82.94% of the students preferred using textbooks, followed by 80.39% using social media networked and 72.89% use their lecture notes. It was observed that inadequate current textbooks, poor Internet connectivity and frequent power outages are the leading challenges encounter while using information resources available in the library. The result of this findings show that with the information resources available in RUGIPO library, the library is not fully utilized by the students. Based on the findings, it is recommended that more current and up-to-date journals need to be acquired. There should also be a solid policy and implementation framework by the Executive arms of government towards making poor Internet connectivity become a thing of the past in all tertiary institutions in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.