Availability of Electronic Information Resource Databases in University Libraries In South- South, Nigeria (Published)
The purpose of this study is to find out the Availability of Electronic Information Resource Databases in University Libraries in South- South, Nigeria. 2 research questions and 1 hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. The survey design was employed. The population of the study was made up of 11 systems librarians. A sample of 7 system librarians in 4 federal and 3 state university libraries were randomly selected for the study. Data collection was done through the use of structured questionnaires in a checklist format. The questionnaire in a check list format was titled: Availability of Electronic Information Resource Databases in University Libraries (AEIRDUL). The research questions 1 and 2 were analyzed quantitatively, while the hypothesis was tested using z- test of difference at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that majority of the EIR databases available in the federal and state university libraries in south-south, Nigeria were free based databases. The nature and subscription of available EIR databases is very low.The study also revealed that the proportions of federal and state university libraries that have EIR databases do not differ significantly. Based on these findings, implications were pointed out and recommendations were made, which included that there should be an improvement in the acquisition policies and subscription of more EIR databases in the libraries for teaching, learning and research work in this knowledge based society where access to current information is needed in developing the society
Keywords: EIR databases, Libraries, Nature and Duration of Subscription, Universities in Nigeria.