Potentials of the internet and its resources to academic staff the case of two faculties in the university of nigeria nsukka

1. International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print),
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17 © IAEME
10
POTENTIALS OF THE INTERNET AND ITS
RESOURCES TO ACADEMIC STAFF:
THE CASE OF TWO FACULTIES IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
AMAOGE DORATHY AGBO
Department of Library and Information Science,
Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Abia State, Nigeria.
SAMAILA B. MOHAMMED
College Library,
Federal College of Education, Niger State, Nigeria.
JACOB F. TSEGBA
University Library
University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
This study assessed the potentials of internet to the academic staff in two faculties, in
the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It sought to find out the available e-resources, frequency
of internet usage and perceived benefits of internet literacy skills. A descriptive survey design
was used for the study with a population of 354 academic staff. Sample size of 212 (60%) of
the population was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was structured
questionnaires. Percentages, mean scores and frequency tables were used in analyzing the
data. The findings revealed that CD-ROM databases, On-line catalogue, E-journal,
Internet/web, E-mail, E-books, On-line databases, E-thesis, and Digital archives among
others are available e-resources for teaching and research. It also discovered that majority
make use of the internet on weeklybases. The study also showed that provision of current
information, ability to access global information, collaboration amongst colleagues, avenue
for researchers’ exposure among others are some of the perceived potentials of internet. The
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIBRARY AND
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ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print)
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online)
Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17
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2. International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print),
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17 © IAEME
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study recommended that adequate governmental and institutional funding for training and
ICT facilities, stable internet connectivity, provision of stable power supply, use of train-the-
trainers techniques and training and re-training of academic staff on internet usage for easy
and effective utilization of the internet services are some of the strategies for enhancing the
internet usage.
Keywords: Internet, Internet Literacy, Academic Staff.
INTRODUCTION
Along with rapid technological advancement entered the “internet”, which has today
created a borderless surge for information. The internet is a complex network of networked
computers that can convey all kinds of messages – including sounds, images and data. Within
the global communication networks provided by the Internet, the World Wide Web provides
a flexible network of networks ‘where institutions, businesses, associations and individuals
create their own “sites” on the basis of which everybody with access can produce their own
“home page” made of a variable collage of text and images’ (Castells, 1996). Connectivism
and networked learning emerged as new learning paradigms that reflect the ability of today’s
teacher and learner to access endless sources of information, build relationships with others,
and collaborate and develop knowledge, all often done outside the formal education
environment, on a scale not seen before (Siemens 2005).
The internet has revolutionized how information is being disseminated holistically
and the universities are not exception. Within universities in Nigeria, there is evidence of
changes brought by internet which has become a point of first resort for information on
practically anything and has implication far beyond teaching learning and research. With the
use of the internet, information could be accessed in any subject field of interest through the
help of the World Wide Web, electronic mails, news groups, electronic journals, electronic
databases, video conferences and lately Web 2.0, thereby bridging the communication lacuna
and global divide. The internet is arguably one of the most significant technological
developments of 20th
century. It is a live, constantly moving, theoretically borderless,
potentially infinite space for the production and circulation of information. In the words of
Singh (2002) ‘while printed materials have a certain fixity and finitude, texts published via
the internet have a much more fluid character’. Internet has an impact on the day-to-day life
of education planners, yet knowing how to look for information, how to analyze it, how to
represent it, how to evaluate it, and how to use it will certainly be competencies necessary for
anybody who wants to compete in the new knowledge economy.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The broad aim of the study is to examine the potentials of internet literacy skills to the
academic staff. The specific objectives are:
i. To determine the e-resources available for use by the academic staff of University of
Nigeria Nsukka.
ii. To ascertain the frequency of internet usage by the academic staff of University of
Nigeria Nsukka.
iii. To examine the perceived benefits of internet by the academic staff of University of
Nigeria Nsukka.

3. International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print),
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17 © IAEME
12
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
The scope of the study encompasses the potentials of internet to the academic staff in
two faculties in university of Nigeria Nsukka. However the study has following limitations.
(a) The study is limited to university of Nigeria Nsukka.
(b) The study includes only the academic staff of the faculties of education and social
sciences.
(c) The study covers only academic staff of these faculties and the study is limited to
internet and its resources.
LITERATURE REVIEW
There is no doubt that internet has invaded all the strata of human endeavours and it
has impacted on it greatly. Lending credit to this submission, Ukodie (2004) writes that it has
been commonly accepted and proven that internet is the engine of the 21st
century and
beyond because it helps the individuals, institutions and societies to achieve greater access to
information on countless topics and charts the educational, economic, political, religious,
cultural and social life of nations. Kumar and Kaur (2006) posit that internet has come to play
a prominent role in the teaching, learning and research in academic institutions. It is a
mechanism for information dissemination and a medium for collaborative interaction
between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic limitation of space.
Collaborating with the above statements, Elaturoti (2007) writes that development of internet
has revolutionized the concept of learning resources and the learning environment. The
internet is now being used as a powerful supplement to the traditional ways that students
study and learn in lecture halls, tutorials, laboratories and in preparation of assignments and
examination. Content created on the internet ranges from simple e-mail messages to
sophisticated documents sites, incorporating sounds, images and words (Evans, 1996).
Writing on the importance of internet to a researcher, Jagboro (2003) described internet as a
rich, multifaceted complex, ever-changing textual environment accessible 24 hours a day, 7
days per week and 365 days per annum that provides several information and opportunities
for the researcher.
Corbett and Williams (2002) state that the use of technology in teaching and learning
is expected to improve educational outcomes, increase skills and decrease inequality among
groups. The use of internet in universities has changed the instructor-student relationship.
Students now feel freer to e-mail their professor to clarify assignment instruction. Instructors
have also found it as an effective way to communicate course information and announcement
(Kuswara and Cram, 2006). In line with the above statement, Adetimirin (2007) submits that
internet facilitates communication between lecturers and students and that the adoption and
use of internet facilitates access to unlimited and current information. Internet has been found
to be very useful because of its ability to integrate text with charts, graphs, photographs and
other forms of multimedia resources. Mac-Ikemenjima (2005) equally points to viability,
flexibility and all round access as essential qualities of the internet that have to be harnessed
for efficient teaching and learning. There is thus a general belief that in order to improve and
globalize the educational sector, a high premium should be placed on improving quality and

4. International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print),
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17 © IAEME
13
usage of internet in teaching and learning environment. Nazim (2008:7) sums up these point
in the following way.
In addition to providing access to available information resources, the internet
also enables individual users to reach other people and institutions all over the
world and exchange or obtain information. Anyone who has access to the internet
can make use of this network to search for information or to communicate via
electronic mail (e-mail), mailing listserve, news groups, chat boxes, Wide Area
Information Server (WAIS) and the World Wide Web (WWW). The amount of
scientific information and the number of electronic journals on the internet
continues to increase and researchers are making their work available online.
Thus access to large amount of information could stimulate changes in university
learning environment and thus open a window of opportunities to researchers.
METHODOLOGY
A descriptive survey design was used for the study with a population of 354 academic
staff. Sample size of 212 (60%) of the population was used for the study. The instrument for
data collection was structured questionnaire. Percentages, mean scores and frequency tables
were used in analyzing the data.
Analysis of Data
Table 1: Distribution and return rate of the questionnaire
POPULATION NO OF
RESPONDENTS
NO
DISTRIBUTED
NO
RETURNED
% RETURNED
Faculty of
Education &
Social Sciences
212 212 204 96%
From the population of 354 academic staff in faculties of Education and Social
Sciences, a sample of 212 respondents which represent 60% of the population was chosen
using stratified sampling technique. From the table 1 above, a total number of 204 (96%) out
of 212 questionnaires distributed were returned and correctly filled; this is because some of
the respondents had a tight schedule that it was difficult getting them to fill the questionnaire
while some were on leave. Percentage score of 50% was used as a bench mark.
Table 2: Academic Staff response on E-resources available for teaching and research
S/N ITEMS YES NO
1. CD-ROM databases √
2. On-line Catalogue √
3. E-journal √
4. Internet/Web √
5. E-mail √
6. E-books √
7. On-line databases √
8. E-thesis √
9. Digital archives √

5. International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print),
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17 © IAEME
14
Table 2 above shows the number of e-resources available for teaching and research.
They are as follows: CD-ROM databases, On-line Catalogue, E-journal, Internet/Web, E-
mail, E-books, On-line databases, E-thesis and Digital archives. The table revealed that they
are all available as the whole respondents answered in affirmation.
Table 3: Academic Staff response on frequency of internet usage
S/N ITEMS Frequency Percentage
30. 2 – 4 times a month 58 28.4%
31. 2 – 3 times a week 94 46.1%
32. Daily 39 19.1%
33. Rarely 13 6.4%
34. Never - -
TOTAL 204 100
From table 5 above, it reveals that (28.4%) of the respondents make use of the internet
2 to 4 times a month while (46.1%) make use of it 2 to 3 times a week. (19.1%) of the
respondents make use of the internet on daily bases while (6.4%) of the respondents rarely
make use of it. None of the respondents indicated not having made use of the internet. It
could be clearly observed from the table that majority of the academic staff make use of the
internet on weekly bases.
Table 4: Academic Staff response on the perceived benefits of internet literacy skills
S/N ITEMS SA A D SD Mean
35. Provides current information for teaching
& research in ones topic of interest 127 77 - - 3.62
36. Ability to access global information for
teaching and research quickly 119 85 - - 3.58
37. Makes collaboration amongst colleagues
easier 113 91 - - 3.55
38. Very convenient for sourcing academic
materials 103 101 - - 3.50
39. It is an avenue for researchers’ exposure 99 105 - - 3.48
40. The resources are highly available for
teaching & research 58 137 7 2 3.26
41. Time saving in giving assignments and
managing academic instructions 45 150 4 5 3.22
The data analyzed in table 6 above shows that the following are some of the perceived
benefit of internet literacy skills. Provides current information for teaching & research in ones
topic of interest (3.62), Ability to access global information for teaching and research quickly
(3.58), Makes collaboration amongst colleagues easier (3.55), Very convenient for sourcing
academic materials (3.50), It is an avenue for researchers’ exposure (3.48), The resources are
highly available for teaching & research (3.26), Time saving in giving assignments and
managing academic instructions (3.22).
From the table, it was discovered that the academic staff accepted all the suggested
benefits of internet literacy skills as their mean scores rated from 3.62 to 3.22.

6. International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print),
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17 © IAEME
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FINDINGS
Finding reveals that there are available e-resources for teaching and research ranging
from CD-ROM databases, On-line catalogue, E-journal, Internet/web, E-mail, E-books, On-
line databases, E-thesis, and Digital archives among others and this corresponds with Barry
(2002) who posited that there are many databases on recent publications and on-going
researches available on the internet. Findings also indicated that provision of current
information for teaching and research, ability to access global information for teaching and
research quickly, easier collaboration among colleagues, convenience in academic
materialsourcing,among others are the potentials of internet literacy skills. This finding is in
agreement with Palvia (2009) who pointed out that internet has broken down barrier of
communication and information access from anywhere in the world. According to him,
internet access allows researcher to have access to information on the net and the opportunity
to access up-to-date research results. The research also evidenced that majority of the
academic staff make use of internet on weekly bases as they rated highest amongst others
with percentages of 46.1. The implication of this is that effort should be made to get the
academic staff trained and internet facilities are being made available and accessible so that
they will be able to harness these resources not only on daily bases but twenty four hours a
day.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations are made based on findings of this study to improve
the situation.
i. Government and other authorities should demonstrate political will towards internet
culture by ensuring adequate funding of ICT projects in universities nationwide in
order to actualize effective internet connectivity.
ii. The academic staff should be more conscious of the technological revolution around
the world and try catching up with it so as to follow the trend and enhance their ease
of using the internet in their academic activities.
iii. The university should pursue aggressively the acquisition and provision of ICT and its
resources for use. The training and re-training of the academic staff in internet literacy
skills for teaching and research should be approached with greater zeal and
commitment.
CONCLUSION
Information is the pivot on which the survival of any society rests and it is vital to the
overall efficiency of the academic staff. The internet is a major source of sharing knowledge
and information and their availability and adoption in teaching and research have increasingly
improved academic staff information seeking and sourcing.This study on the potentials of
internet to the academic staff in two faculties in the university of Nigeria Nsukka has
revealed that. Effort should therefore be made to get the academic staff equitably trained in
order to enable them make maximum use of these resources.

7. International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), ISSN: 2277 – 3533 (Print),
ISSN: 2277 – 3584 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July - December (2014), pp. 10-17 © IAEME
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