Information Needs and Sources of Information Used By Mining Engineering Students at the Federal University of Technology, Akure Library

Abstract

The study examined the information needs of mining engineering students at the Federal University of Technology, Akure. It also investigated the various information resources used by the students especially when they visited the library. The study was based on the assumption that most mining engineering students seldom used the library to satisfy their academic needs. Random sampling technique was used to select one hundred and ten students for the study. Copies of the questionnaire designed for the study were administered to all the selected respondents who were undergoing graduate and post graduate programmes. Only ninety-seven of them were returned and found usable. Students consulted for the study included those in their 2nd year (11or 11%), 3rd year (19 or 20%), 4th (25or 26%) and 5th year (33or 34%), respectively. The opinions of 7 (7%) master students and 2 (2%) PhD students were also sought in the study. The study revealed that 37 (39%) FUTA mining engineering students occasionally visited the library, while 59 (61%) of them used it at various frequencies. Education (52%) ranked the highest as respondents’ predominant information need. In order of preference, respondents were found to seek information on politics (21%) entertainment (16%) and health (11%), respectively. Rationale behind non-use of library information resources include-; difficulty in locating library materials (32.1%), unconducive reading environment (14.3%) and laborious card renewal exercise (7%). Challenges respondents claim to encounter in their attempt to use library materials include-; lack of adequate current textbooks in their field of study or related fields and inability to locate information materials. The latter may be comprehensible as most of the respondents (50 or 26%) perceived physical book collection as the most important service in the library. The study recommended the provision of information resources for all courses offered in the university. Also, library policy regarding card renewing exercise for students at the beginning of every session should be reviewed to meet latest ICT standards for library operations. Organizing user education programmes at regular intervals is also advised in order to create awareness of library operations and services.