INFORMATION SOURCES AND STUDENT’S SATISFACTION WITH REFERENCE SERVICES IN NYONG ESSIEN LIBRARY
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to investigate information sources and students satisfaction with reference services in Nyong Essien Library. In order to achieve this purpose, the following areas were considered: Information sources, types and importance, students satisfaction and the problems militating against students satisfaction with reference services in libraries. The study further considered reference services, reference sources and effectiveness of reference services. Based on the investigation, it was concluded that students desire reference information sources and services in their libraries and that the library have a key role in providing these sources and services for the satisfaction of the students. It was recommended among others that parents institutions should help their libraries in whatever way to enable them provide the needed resources and services for the satisfaction of users.
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
Successful educational system depends exhaustively on the availability and accessibility of information sources and services. Based on this regard, academic libraries provide information sources for teaching, learning and research activities for their parent institution. The library is an organized collection of published and unpublished books and audio visual resources with the aid of services of staff who are able to provide and interpret such sources as required to meet information, research, educational and recreational needs of users (Ogbebor, 2011).
The library collects information sources in a structural and classified manner to satisfy the need of each member of their parents institution. Information resources can be in printed and electronic formats including textbooks, journals, indexes, abstracts, newspapers, magazines, reports, CD-ROM, databases, internet, email, video, tapes/cassettes, diskettes, computers, and microforms (Adeoye and Popoola, 2011). The core objective of academic library is to support the parent institution to achieve its objectives.
This is vital because academic institutions need information and the library plays such role by providing information resources. This is to enable the users achieve success in their academic careers. For the library to attain this it is essential that libraries recognize the needs of their users and try as much as possible to satisfy them. Satisfying the information needs of the users therefore require the provision of the actual information sources and services that will match up the user’s needs. The satisfaction in this context is the state that results after the library user (students) has favorably or positively experienced a service product.
Some of the services provided by academic libraries to their users to enable them get satisfied with their information needs includes reference services, indexing services, circulation services, serial control services and technical services. All these services are carried out by academic libraries to meet and satisfy the users. Based on the context of this work, reference services is considered. Reference services according to Tagman, Koenig and Greene (2008) is a service provided by libraries to assist users in the location and retrieval of information relevant to their information needs. This services is mostly, very vital to researchers.
The services, maybe direct or indirect reference services. Direct has to do with person to person relationship while indirect service has to do with those services the librarian renders to the patrons (student) in their absence, otherwise known as behind the scene activities. Based on the above information, this study therefore tries to bring to light information sources and their role in student’s satisfaction with reference services.
INFORMATION SOURCES AND STUDENT’S SATISFACTION WITH REFERENCE SERVICES IN NYONG ESSIEN LIBRARY
