Abstract:
The efficacy of student use of university library e-sources relies on computer experience, JCT selfefficacy,
library support, Information Communication Technology (JCT) training, obstacles in EIR
use, /CT stress, training needs, infrastructure and usage of e-journals. The present study
investigates the possibility of employing the Classification and Regression Tree analysis (CART) to
explore the present status of the EIR usage and to find out the factors that affect use of EIR in Sri
Lankan university libraries. The objectives were to identify universities according to the levels of
usage of library EIR, identify the factors of EIR use in the university libraries and possibility of
predicting the status of EIR usage of libraries based on CART. The piloted, validated and
structured questionnaire was administered to 840 undergraduates. The CART was developed to
model the EIR usage patterns and to identify the factors of the EIR usage. Based on the variable
importance of CART, JCT obstacles and training requirement were recognized as most important
factors. The CART indicated that 42.5% essentially need training to improve the searching level of
EIR and 56. 7% had no proper training in EIR and become ineffective users. These findings suggest
the university libraries must prioritized the improvement of JCT facilities and identify the new JCT
trends in libraries.
