INFLUENCE OF ICT FACILITIES USE IN THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) facilities in the university library on academic performance of undergraduate students in University of Abuja, Nigeria. The study was guided by three objectives and three research questions. Survey research design was used for the study; the population comprises of all the undergraduate students in the University of Abuja. Proportionate and stratified random sampling technique was used and Cohen Manion and Morrison (2007) table for determining sample size was used to sample 320 students from the total population of 15,283. Observation checklist and questionnaire were used as the data collection instruments. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and results were presented in tables, frequency distribution, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study showed that: computer printer, scanner, photocopier, fax machine, compact disc/digital disc, flash drive, projector intercom, internet, external hard disk, 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 University of Abuja library. The findings from the study also revealed that ICT facilities were highly accessible by undergraduate students in meeting their academic needs. It was discovered that majority of the respondents agreed that ICT facilities aid their academic performance in the following areas: completion of their project reports, 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 provided the basic ICT infrastructural facilities, information literacy should be incorporated in school curriculum, expansion of the e-library units for students to have access to ICT infrastructure, provision of internet services in the students’ hostel as well as classrooms among others.