UTILIZATION OF REFERENCE RESOUNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE IN PUBLIC TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN RIVERS STATE

The study examined the utilization of reference resources for effective research by undergraduate students of library and information science in public tertiary institutions in Rivers State. Four objectives and four research questions were raised and used for the study. The descriptive survey research design method was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprises of a total of one thousand four hundred and seventy one (1471) registered undergraduate students of library and information science. The sample consists of 290 library and information science students selected using random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was self-constructed and self-administered questionnaire titled “Utilization of Library Resources for Effective Research Questionnaire (ULRERQ)”. To answer the research questions, the Mean (x̅) and the Standard Deviation (SD) statistic were used. Findings of the study revealed that reference resources such as Dictionaries, encyclopedias, yearbooks, projects/theses/dissertations, reports, gazetteers, handbooks, almanacs, directories, and maps and atlases are accessible to the students and that these available reference resources are utilized by the students for research purposes. It was therefore recommended among others that the library should provide unavailable reference materials such as thesaurus and parliamentary papers to enhance utilization and that library should make provision for multiple copies of Journals/project/thesis/dissertations, hand books, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, directories, almanacs and reports so as to promote simultaneous utilization of such materials that are highly utilized by students.