A SURVEY OF THE AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION RESOURCES IN THE CIRCULATION UNIT IN FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL) BICHI LIBRARY

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to investigate the availability and utilization of information resources in Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi library. Three objectives and three research questions were raised to guide the study. The study employed quantitative methodology and survey research design. The total number of 892 registered students from the college between 2019-2021 academic session formed the population of the study. A sample of 270 students (10% sample) was used based on sample size calculator. The stratified sampling technique was employed in sampling the population. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. The instrument was validated and a reliability test was conducted before it was administered to respondents. Data generated was analyzed using simple percentage and descriptive statistics. Mean was use to answer some research questions. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents utilize the information resources available in the circulation unit of the library because of adequacy. It concludes that information resources were made available to the staff and students of the College. Majority of the respondents used the library for study and research purposes rather than for leisure and recreational purpose. The findings also showed that users also utilize information resources even though they were encountering some challenges when accessing the materials such as lack of proper shelving and shelf-reading, lack of library catalog, and user’s behavior. The study recommended that library management should ensure that the problem faced by the users of the library in utilizing the information resources are minimized and that the suggested strategies that will help to overcome the challenges facing the students in the use of the information resources should be adopted.