A Survey on the Use of Online Public Access Catalogue among Undergraduate Students at Osagyefo Library, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Abstract

This study investigates the use of Online Public Catalogue (OPAC) by undergraduate students at the Osagyefo Library in the University of Education, Winneba. The objectives of the study, among others, were to ascertain the extent to which students utilise the OPAC, their satisfaction and the challenges they encounter while using the OPAC. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Five research questions were formulated to guide the study. The sample for the study constitutes all undergraduate registered users of the library. A questionnaire was used for the data collection. The total registered undergraduates as at the time of the study was 661 and these were served with the questionnaires. All the questionnaires were collected back right in the library, therefore there was a high response rate. After going through the questionnaire, it was realized that 652 were answered correctly and this was used for the analysis. A high return rate of 95.2% was therefore attained. Simple percentages were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that a significant number of users were aware of OPAC and patronise it frequently. In addition they use the OPAC mainly for bibliographic records; however they were not aware of other functionalities of the OPAC. Furthermore, the results also indicated that users were satisfied with their search results from OPAC services. Nevertheless the study revealed that users were, however, confronted with some challenges. These include, among others; inadequate number of computers, slow internet connectivity, and lack of search skills. Therefore, the study recommends among others that the computer terminals should be increased and also management of the library should as a matter of urgency put in place measures to ensure uninterrupted internet connectivity. The study concludes that library management should put in place effective measures to ensure that all the bottlenecks are nipped in the bud for maximum usage of the service. This will justify the implementation of the service.