Availability and accessibility as correlates of electronic information resources utilisation among law undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Electronic information resources utilisation cannot be undervalued because of their immense contribution to scholastic work in the area of research, teaching and learning in educational institutions. Investigations and observations have established low utilisation of electronic information resources among undergraduates in Nigeria. it is on this premise that this study was to investigate the availability, and accessibility as correlates of electronic information resources utilisation by law undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria. The study employed survey research design of correlational type and adopted multi stage sampling technique. The population of the study comprised of 4,432 law undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria. Sample size of 870 was selected using proportionate to size sampling technique at 3% sample fraction. The validity and reliability of the instrument was done using Cronbach alpha coefficient at 0.78. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency counts and central tendency while the hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that law Pavilion was the most available type of electronic information resources with mean score of ( ̅ =3.32) followed by Nigeria Weekly Law Reports Online and e-books with a mean score of ( ̅ =3.20) and ( ̅ =3.17) respectively. The most accessible electronic information resource was e-books with a mean score of ( ̅ = 3.45) followed by Law Pavilion with a mean score of ( ̅ = 3.28) and Nigerian Weekly Law Reports Online with a mean score of ( ̅ = 3.19). Nigerian Weekly Law Reports Online ( ̅ = 3.17) was the most utilised electronic information resource e-books. The study concluded that availability and accessibility are crucial elements determining the utilisation of electronic information resources among undergraduates’ law students in South-West, Nigeria and recommended that stakeholders in the education sector should prioritise financing subscriptions to relevant and affordable electronic information resources through collaborations with legal databases publishers and supports from government agencies.