Use of electronic resources by undergraduate students at perpustakaan Tun Abdul Razak 1 UiTM Shah Alam

Abstract

The use of electronic resources in the libraries is becoming a popular aspect to be studied. This study was undertaken to explore the usage of the 4 types of ERs, namely the Internet, OPAC, CD-ROMs and online databases. The objective of this study is to look at the issues related to the usage of ERs by Malaysian undergraduates. This research is relatively important because there is very limited amount of studies in this area which focuses on the undergraduates. The sample was drawn randomly from undergraduates at PTAR 1. A total of 167 students from the Diploma and Degree programmes participated in answering the questionnaires. T he data c ollected was analysed u sing the S PSS p ackage t o find o ut the descriptive configuration. Two librarians at PTAR 1 were interviewed in order to solicit their views on the usage and availability of ERs at PTAR 1. The findings of the study suggested that students at PTAR 1 are keen and aware of the availability and accessibility of electronic resources (ERs) and utilize the facilities fully. The most popular type of ERs used are the Internet and online databases. Most of the participants used more than one ERs in their studies. The online databases is more frequently used for completing assignments, whereas the Internet is used to gain general knowledge. The problems related to the usage of ERs at PTAR 1 are also identified as "slow retrieval", "not enough PC" and "irrelevant information". It is recommended that the findings of this study can be replicated focusing on gender differences in ERs usage.