Awareness, adoption and use of Electronic Information Resources by Economists at The National Treasury and Planning, Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Economists play a very important role in collecting and collating information necessary for national development. They require up to date information in order to perform their roles effectively. This led to the introduction of electronic information resources in the National Treasury and Planning Library. Despite the National Treasury and Planning heavy financial resources’ investment in the E- resources, the resources are under-utilized and not commensurate to the investment. This under-utilization has been attributed to lack of awareness and remote access to e-resources by the Economists resulting in underutilization of the e-resources. The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness, adoption and use of electronic information resources by economists at the National Treasury and Planning with a view to proposing interventions to enhance their awareness, adoption and use. The objectives of the study were to: establish the types of electronic information resources available at the National Treasury and Planning; determine the awareness, adoption and use of electronic information resources by economists; examine the factors that influence the adoption and use of electronic information resources by economists; establish strategies used to enhance awareness, adoption and use of electronic resources by economists; determine the challenges that are encountered by the economists in enhancing awareness, adoption and use of electronic resources and propose measures to mitigate these challenges. The study was underpinned by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and employed pragmatic philosophical worldview. The study adopted mixed method research approach while employing exploratory research design. The population of study consisted of economists, librarians, ICT staff, the director of library services and the director economic development coordination amounting to 234 respondents. Simple random sampling techniques were used to collect quantitative data from economists using questionnaires while qualitative data was collected from key informants, comprising: Librarians, ICT staff, the Director of library services and Director of Economic Development and Coordination using interview schedules. Quantitative data was analyzed and presented using tables, graphs and par charts while concurrent triangulation was used for qualitative data. The findings of the study revealed that electronic information resources available included; e-books, e newspapers, e-journals and online databases. The findings also revealed that there was high awareness, adoption and use of electronic information resources by economists. The other finding of the study was that economists at the National Treasury and Planning face a number of challenges in their pursuit to be aware, adopt and use e- resources among them: lack of remote access to e-resources; failure to download full text of electronic articles; poor or inadequate sensitization and advocacy; inadequate facilities or infrastructure and inadequate user education among others. The study concludes that economists at the National Treasury and Planning are knowledgeable and familiar with electronic resources and were using them effectively but there is still the challenge of funding which has made the cost of running and maintaining e-resources high. The study recommends the upgrading of ICT and library facilities to allow remote access digitize local contents and train economist by mounting user education programs