Influence of Computer Literacy on Postgraduates' Use of E-Resources in Nigerian University Libraries

INTRODUCTION Postgraduates as averred by Thanuskodi (2012) are major users of university library resources and services. This might be so because of their need for writing seminar papers, term papers, information for their assignments and other research activities. Research is the most important component of postgraduate studies (Ismail, Abiddin & Hassan, 2011). Research enables postgraduates' to systematically investigate society's problems, proffer solutions to them and contribute to knowledge. Research has been defined by Oxford Online Dictionary (2012) as the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. It involves a systematic process for recognising a need for information, acquiring and validating that information and deriving conclusions from it. This implies that postgraduates' focus inwards into the society and discover areas with problems, collect data on subject areas, interpret and subsequently make recommendations on how to solve the problems. The presentation of a standard research work (theses/dissertations) by postgraduates to their departments is the major component that will lead to the award of their final degrees. To present standard research work, postgraduates will need information resources. The information resources could be print or electronic. The types and forms of e-resources in university libraries include e-journals, e-data archives, e-manuscript, e-maps, e-books, e-magazines, e-thesis, WWW, e-newspapers, e-research reports, and e-bibliographic databases (Sharma, 2009). The libraries, according to Nwalo (2003), are primarily set up to acquire, organise and make accessible to users their needed information within the quickest possible time. University libraries have the responsibility for providing a wide range of resources to meet postgraduates' research needs, collect information for their assignments and term papers, prepare for examinations and broaden their general knowledge. In addition, postgraduates may need these information resources to write articles and to collaborate with other researchers elsewhere in the world. Postgraduates' can locate and access their needed e-resources in the university libraries, even in Nigerian university libraries which are shifting their preferences to e-resources. E-resources, as defined by Ekwelem, Okafor & Ukwoma (2009), are information sources that are available and can be accessed electronically through such computer-networked facilities as online library catalogues, the internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), CD-ROM databases, etcetera. The electronic resources could either be subscribed to or be digitised in-house. Conyers (2006) in describing the importance of e-resources submitted that apart from the fact that e-resources are easily retrievable in university libraries, they also meet users' information needs. This could be one of the reasons why many university libraries in the United Kingdom are shifting preferences towards e-resources, which are found to be less expensive and more useful for easy access (Dadzie, 2005). The shift in collection development in university libraries from print materials to e-resources has indicated the importance of e-resources in information retrieval and instructional delivery which support teaching and research activities acknowledged worldwide (Egberongbe, 2011). The purpose of use of e-resources by postgraduates in university libraries could be encouraged by several reasons. One such important reason is saving their time. Lending credence to this view, Pandurangaswamy & Kishore (2013) argued that users do not have enough time to browse through the page of printed materials and this fact induces users such as postgraduates to increase their use of e-resources for research, course work and teaching. This goes to help them maximise their time. In addition, Brown, Found & McConnell (2007) submitted that time saved on using e-resources has a very positive impact on postgraduates' ability to be creative. …