CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Library is a fast growing organization, the ancient methods of maintaining it

are no longer dynamic and efficient for expeditions, retrieval and dissemination of
information and better service for the students; application of modern techniques
has become absolutely indispensable. A properly computerized library will help its
students with quick and prompt services. A digital library is an automated or
electronic library where activities like accessing; with the help of a computer does
resource sharing and storing. The word digital is concerned with the understanding
of the design and development of electronic circuits. It includes system like word
processing, micrographic, reprographic, video based information systems, message
transmission such as fax, voice mail, e-mail and internet, (Encyclopedia, 2013).The
internet is a global network of computers linked together over large distances
(Brown, 2008). It was created by the American Military as a means of
communication and has been in existence since the 1950s, until mid late eighties
(80’s) when commercial organizations and educational institutions mainly used the
internet. This was due to high costs. The rapid development of technology has seen
improvement in communication links and a lowering of costs. The implication of
this is that the internet is now more widely available to more people. Since the
internet is now available to a wide sector of the population in the western world
many educational establishments have seized on its educational potential. The
internet is a valuable source of information for students looking for ideas for
projects and assignments. With over 50 million web sites on the Net, the chances
are that any information however obscure can be found. The only tools required to
find this information would be some patience and a decent search engine
(Ehrmann, 2008). It also serves as a useful tool for lecturers in helping to prepare
lesson plans as there are a number of sites, especially in America, dedicated to
providing educational material.

It also serves as a forum to promote group discussion, which is time and

distance independent. There are many forms this group discussion can take. These
include video conferencing, where by the use of a small video camera and
microphone, members of the group can actually see and hear each other. Also
group discussion can take the form of chat rooms where everyone comes together
in a host area and communicates with each other via the keyboard. Although there
may be many advantages to be gained from using the internet as an educational
tool, there are also many drawbacks. For the first time users the internet can be a
very unfriendly environment but with frequent use, they can get familiar with it
pretty quickly. The amount of information available on the net means that users
tend to be side-tracked with a lot of unnecessary, useless information. As the
internet is not owned by anyone there are no checks or censorship of information
available. The upside to this is that information is freely available to everyone
without restriction but the downside to this is that information can be placed into
the wrong hands. Also as there are no checks on the information on the net this
may lead to inaccuracies and misleading information being published (Massey,
2005).

The internet is heavily dependent on hardware which can be expensive

especially as the internet is constantly evolving. This therefore means to take full
advantage of this evolving technology, upgrades in hardware and software are
required. With the advent of the internet, education has definitely benefited in more
ways than can be mentioned; and although it will not take over the traditional
methods of education, it will continue to play a major part (Abbey-Livingston and
Abbey, 2002).

The automated library is internet technology based, the internet have

changed lives in many ways; it have changed the way we communicate, just like
the automated library has changed the way we study and source for educational
and learning materials. Through this process, it have given students a tremendous
sense of educational empowerment. And it is the beauty of the automated library
that every student user has now become a potential scholar. Technology, in various
forms, have always held forth the promise of improving education (Wenger, 1998;
Harrington, 2008). This is true whether one speaks of scholastic education or its
cousins, corporate and commercial training programs. Computer-Assisted
Instruction (CAI), instructional television (ITV), and programmed instruction (PI)
can be counted as early examples of the application of information technology to
education. The most recent and perhaps most visible cases are web-based training
programs and degree granting programs from fully accredited institutions offered
via what is known as "distance learning." technology succeeds, when it becomes
commonplace. This is amply illustrated by such mundane and ubiquitous artifacts
as chalkboards, training films and videos, overhead projectors and transparencies,
software such as Microsoft, PowerPoint, and perhaps the most common of all, the
textbook.

Digital libraries have become a feature on the landscape in developed

countries, however of late, it has become a feature in advancing communication
and knowledge in developing world.

A digital library can be understood as information centers with no sense of

physical location for an end user, the user can access from anywhere and
information can be held anywhere. This is characterized by great computer system
and telecommunication system in the storage and dissemination of information. A
digital library offers facilities for accessing collection of automated libraries on-
line.

To meet the needs of the students: the primary requirements of digital

libraries is that from the start it will be committed to organizing, storing and
providing electronic information for periods larger than human lives. Students will
need information that is reliable, locatable so that either personal or on the net,
they can expect to find what they want.

Libraries cannot exist as a single entity and technology to link their

resources, the collections of these digital libraries are not limited to surrogate
development but extend further to digital artifacts that cannot be represented or
distributed in printed formats. Digital libraries are a shift in electronic content; this
enables libraries to apply a growing range of information technology to the
management of collection of print information.

The emergence of the world wide web is perhaps the great symbol to this
shift with all applications for scholarly communication, raise of the
computationally science, the new role of databases, share category and computer
networking for collaboration and corroboration within the library community,
online public access, abstracting and indexing schemes. Based on the level of
information and knowledge today, it has become necessary for information
workers to take the issue of automating libraries seriously for the purpose of
facilitating communication, information sharing, research and communication.
 Techniques has been introduced in the field of library, as a result information
workers are expected to serve computerized online services, selective
dissemination of information and current awareness services to the users.

The existence of digital libraries doesn’t exist beyond experimental level

however existence of databases, library online catalogues, electronic journals in
different organization including academic institutions, professional organizations,
international organizations. Digital libraries will be defined as these libraries that
are greatly aided by networks, have or can access electronic databases, online
public access catalogue and to some extent provide email and internet services to
its users and at least certain percentage of their information resources are in
electronic format.

In the modernization of business activities in the world today, electronic

technology is imparting and dramatically changing the fabric of our lives. To be a
player in development and to enjoy everything in the world today, organizations
have adopted the use of internet and in particular the adopting of the digital
libraries. In exchange of information and resources, cooperate projects to avoid
duplications of efforts and bringing access to distant and disadvantages
communities.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The automated library perpetuates some of the problems of the paper library noted
previously. Because the collections of documents are still on paper, a localized
medium, the need for local collections, the space needed for paper documents, the
inflexibility of paper documents, the separation of documents from the users,
opening hours for the collections (though no longer for the catalog), and
competition for use of copies of documents all remain as much a problem in both
libraries: the automated library and the paper library. The catalog may be used in a
number of places. In particular, with remote access to the on-line catalog, the user
is no longer separated from the catalog and the separation of catalog and
documents is somewhat diminished since, online, a catalog can at long last be used
in the book-stacks. The automated library represents a significant improvement but
for only some of the problems and, aside for the online catalog, benefits directly
those who are providing the service rather than those who are using the service.
Currently the internet offers a range of services to users, such as e-mail, the World
Wide Web, Usenet news, telnet, and others. Information research is a dedication to
learning. This needs specific research skills, an awareness of research tools and
gifted mind. Without knowledge of and access to relevant research worthy
resources, your search will be severely limited and doubtful. Internet is the only
vast field of exploring what provides us the source of research tools. If we give the
name ‘explorer’ to the internet that would not be wrong, in a sense that explorer
itself means to inquire something or to examine something. Internet is widely used
in the field where there is a work of research. Internet is not minimized to this field
only; it also provides us with the best source of entertainment. This study therefore
aimed at investigating the effect of computerization library on students academic
performance.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This study is designed to investigate the effect of computerization of library

on students’ performance. The purpose of the study is to;

i. investigate the effect of computerized library on students academic

performance.

ii. find out if computerization of library would enhance greater efficiency.

iii. determine the extent to which students uses the electronic library.

iv. investigate and prove that computerization of the school library would be
helpful in providing good library service.

iv. make recommendation at the end of the study which would helpful to the
policy makers and others such as government and private library owners.

• RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions would be addressed in the course of this

study.

i. Will there be any significant relationship between the academic performance

of students who study in computerized library and those who use the
traditional library for studying?
ii. Will there be any significant relationship between academic performance of
male and female students who study in computerized library?

iii. Will there be any significant relationship between the perception of students
that study in computerized library and those who use the traditional library
for studying?

iv. Will there be any significant difference between perception of male and
female students who study in computerized library?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

From the research question raised, the following hypotheses will be tested at
0.05 level of significance.

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between the academic performance of

students who study in computerized library and those who use the traditional
library.

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between academic performance of male

and female students who study in computerized library.

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between the perception of students that

study in computerized library and those who use the traditional library.

Ho4: There is no significant difference between perception of male and female

students who study in computerized library.

1.6 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Due to time and financial constraints, it has been difficult for the researcher to
survey many libraries. This study is therefore limited to the entire library of Ekiti
State University in affiliation with Michael Otedola College of Primary Education,
Noforija Epe.
1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is very important in various ways. It is expected to identify the

relationship between student’s perceptions of computerization of library on their
academic performance.

The results of this study are expected to unfold the problem which the
students face on the use of computerized library and traditional library and how the
problem affects their overall performance in school, especially in science related
courses.

Knowledge of Computerized library will help the Government, School

Administrators, Government Council, Lecturers and Librarian to start working
together towards alleviating some of the problem face by the students in using
computerized library and integrating information and communication technology
(ICT) in general for better educational outcome.

This study will also benefit administrators and educators in pursuing

knowledge that will assist in determining the important variables in successful
academic performance.
The study will also help to reduce the increased dropout rate in the country
(especially for students that lack ICT and internet technology skills thus increasing
literacy rate as well as level of ICT awareness, accessibility and usability among
students and teacher.
Finally, the study will also be beneficial to students as it will enlighten them
on the need to take their educational life more seriously especially with the use of
ICT resources and computerized library, so as to contribute to the development of
science and technology in the country.

1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

EFFECT: To have a strong and often impact on [something or someone], a change

that causes a result.

COMPUTERIZATION: Equipping with a general purpose computer, embedded

computer or computer system. Imputing data into computers, creating computer
generated content.
LIBRARY: A library is an organized collection of information and similar
resources made accessible to a defined community for reference of borrowing it.

STUDENTS: A person who is studying at a school, university or college.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Connected with education, especially studying in

schools and universities, involving a lot of reading and studying which the student
is rated.
1.9 ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
The study is structured into chapters and consists of five chapters. Chapter
one introduces the study with the background, statement of problem, research
objectives question, hypothesis, significance, scope, definition of terms. Chapter
two reviews various authors literature on the subject matter of the study. Chapter
three consists of the methodology used in carrying out the study. Chapter four
present, analyze and interprets the collected data. Chapter five provide the
summary of findings, conclusion and recommendation.