Factors contribute to the usage of library electronic information resources (EIR) by university students in Sri Lanka

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.