Access and utilization of Information resources and services by Water specialists in Kenya: The case of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation

Abstract

Enabling technologies have led to the transformation of libraries and information centers‘ collection & services from the traditional prints to e-collections such as e- books, e-journals and other virtual reference services. This has been necessitated by the environment of increasing economic pressure, rapid shifts in the behaviors and expectations of the patrons and evolving patterns of scholarly publishing. The changes have exerted pressure on libraries and more on the parent institutions in the provision of the necessary infrastructure and the actual access to e-resources. The pressure on libraries is in the sourcing, acquisition, repackaging and the provision of necessary guidance to end users. Underutilization of these resources may lead to user apathy and affect funding. The aim of the study was to investigate the access and use of e-journals by students and academic staff at USIU and propose strategies for improvement. The objectives of the study were to: identify the types of e-journal databases available in the library; determine the frequency of access and use of e- journals by users; establish the policies in place for governing access to and use of e- journals; examine the level of information and computer literacy skills among users on their access and use of e-journals; establish the degree of awareness of the availability of e-journals; identify major inhibitors to access and use of e-journals, and suggest measures to enhance access to and use of e-journals. The study was guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model by Venkatesh, et al (2003). The study adopted mixed method approach. Stratified random sampling, simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to collect data from students and academic staff. Questionnaires and semi- structured interviews were used to collect data from 202 respondents constituting 186 students, 16 academic staff and 4 informants from the library. Collected data was integrated, presented and analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques of narratives and numerical. The major findings of the study were: USIU library has a variety of online research databases hosting online journals that are not adequate and current in meeting the ever-changing information needs of users; the frequency of accessing e-journals is relatively low with most users accessing them occasionally; the level of awareness of e-journals and their use is low among the library clientele as most of them do not go through training prior to access and use e-journals; library users are challenged in their access and use of e-journals by restrictions via Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and slow internet speeds. The study recommends that: librarians develops and offer orientation and training programmes regularly; offer current awareness on e-resources; acquire and make available peer reviewed e- journals in support of education and research to meet their needs and institutional bandwidth bundle as well as providing computer literacy program to cater for low skill users. The librarians to develop promotional strategies that is blended, integrates and coordinates all communications channels.