Perceived usefulness and ease of use of OPAC among undergraduates in selected Universities in Kwara State

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceived usefulness and ease of use of Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) among  undergraduates in Kwara state, Nigeria. The study specifically examined the perception of undergraduate students in University of Ilorin  and Kwara State University about OPAC; ascertain the frequency of use of OPAC by undergraduate students in University of Ilorin and Kwara State University; investigate the perceived usefulness of OPAC among the undergraduate students in University of Ilorin and Kwara State University; examine the perceived ease of use of OPAC among the undergraduate students in University of Ilorin and Kwara State University; and identify challenges that undergraduate students in University of Ilorin and Kwara State University encountered while using OPAC. The research adopted survey method and employed stratified sampling technique to select 504 undergraduates as its sample from  the population consisting of undergraduate students of University of Ilorin and Kwara state University. A self designed questionnaire  tagged as “Questionnaire on Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use of OPAC among Undergraduate Student”. Out of 504 copies of the questionnaire administered, 493 copies were returned and properly filled to give 97.8% return rate. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency and counts percentages while t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that there is a great relationship between perceived ease of use and the use of OPAC. Furthermore, the
study found that there is a significant difference in the perception of male and female undergraduate students in University of Ilorin and Kwara State University about the OPAC.The studyconcluded that undergraduate students had positive perception about the usefulness and ease of use of OPAC while lack of assistance from library staff; unstable power supply; poor internet facility and inadequate computer terminals designated for the use of OPAC are the major challenges that undergraduate students in University of Ilorin and Kwara State University encountered while using OPAC.