Information Literacy Skills and Computer Self-Efficacy as Correlates of Electronic Information Resources Usage by Library and Information Science Postgraduate Students in South-East Universities

Abstract

This study investigated information literacy skills and computer self-efficacy as correlates of electronic information resources usage by Library and Information Science (LIS) postgraduate students in federal universities in South-East, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Correlation research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 61 postgraduate students which included 2024/2025 PhD and Master’s Degree students from the Departments of LIS in universities in the South-East that offer postgraduate programme in LIS. The entire population was studied. Three validated instruments titled Information Literacy Skills Test/cognitive ability test (ILKT); Computer Self-Efficacy Scale (CSS) and Use of Electronic Information Resources Questionnaire (UEIRQ) were used for data collection. The instruments were tested for reliability using Kudder-Richardson (K-R20) formula and Cronbach's alpha (α) test. Using Kudder-Richardson, a reliability coefficient of 0.85 was obtained for ILST. Also, reliability coefficient of 0.86 and 0.81 were obtained for CSS and UEIRQ respectively using Cronbach's alpha which was considered high enough for the instruments to be reliable. Pearson’s Product Moment correlation coefficient was used to analyse both the research questions and the research hypotheses. Findings from the study revealed that a very high positive and significant relationship existed between LIS postgraduate students’ information literacy skills and their use of electronic information resources in South-East federal universities. Furthermore, findings from the study revealed that a high positive and significant relationship exist between LIS postgraduate students’ computer self-efficacy and their use of electronic information resources in South-East federal universities. It was also found that there is a high positive and significant relationship between the independent variables (information literacy skills and computer self-efficacy) and dependent variable (use of e-resources) of LIS postgraduate students in federal university libraries. From the study, it implies that information literacy skills enhance LIS postgraduate students’ use of electronic information resources. The study recommended among others, that LIS postgraduate students should endeavour to sustain their computer self-efficacy. This is to enhance their use of electronic information resources.