Impact of Teaching Use of Library on Students’ Access to Information Resources and Attitude to Library Use in Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa Toto, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of teaching use of library, study skills and information and communication technology (ICT) course on students’ ability to access information resources and their attitude to library use. Survey method was employed for the study. Questionnaire named Students’ Access Ability Questionnaire (SAAQ) was developed by the researchers; the reliability of the instrument was obtained using Cronbach’s alpha method to derive the coefficient value of 0.82 and was used for the collection of the data. The target population of the study was 1800 students of the School of Information Technology, Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa Toto, Nasarawa State. The sample size for the study was 360 respondents representing 20% of the population under consideration, proportionately selected from the four departments of the school through randomization. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Mean score was used to answer the research questions, while t-test statistic was used in testing the hypotheses. The result obtained from the respondents that answered research questions one (1), revealed that the aggregate mean was 3.44 which is greater than the weighted mean of 2.50.  Similarly, the obtained aggregate mean score that answered research question two (2) was 3.19 also higher than the weighted mean of 2.50. The two stated null hypotheses were retained because the obtained t-values were less than the p-value. The study recommended among others that the teaching use of library, study skills and information and communication technology (ICT) be offered in both first and second semesters of the first year. It should be made a two hour credit units.