AVAILABILITY AND USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) FACILITIES IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES FOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION STUDENTS IN NORTH CENTRAL, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study investigated the availability and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities for academic performance of colleges of education students in academic libraries in north central, Nigeria. Five objectives and five research questions guided the study. Survey research design was used for the study, the population comprises of all the college students in the in the three selected colleges of Education in North central, Nigeria who are registered library users and the Heads of the Electronic library unit (e-library). Proportionate and stratified random sampling technique was used and Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007) table for determining sample size was use to sample 266 students from the total population of 12,876 registered library users. Observation checklist and Questionnaire were used as the data collection instruments. The findings show that out of 266 copies of the questionnaire administered, 261 were completed, returned and found usable showing a response rate of 98.0%. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and results were presented in tables, frequency distribution, percentages, and mean score. The findings of the study showed that; computer, printer, scanner, photocopier, compact disc/digital disc, flash drive, projector, internet, external hardisk, institutional website, digital camera, telephone lines, television, library software, library e-mail, e-resources, cable satellite and web cam were the ICT facilities available in colleges of education libraries. The findings from the study also revealed   that ICT facilities were highly accessible by college students in meeting their academic needs. It was discovered that majority of the respondents positively agreed that ICT facilities aid their academic performance in the following areas: completing their project report, learning independently, typing of course work and assignment, applying what has been learnt in real world situation, improving their organizational skills, GPA have improved remarkably through the use of ICT facilities among others. The study recommended that: more financial support should be made available to provide the basic ICT infrastructural facilities, information literacy should be incorporated in school curriculum, expansion of the e-library unit for students to have access to ICT infrastructures, provision of internet services in the students hostel as well as classroom and among others.