Users' Perception of Legal Information Sources and Services in Judiciary Library: The Case of Rivers State Judiciary, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined users' perception of legal information sources and services in the judiciary library: a case of Rivers State Judiciary. A  descriptive survey design was used. The population consists of 3,887 users of the judiciary library which includes judges, magistrates,  state counsels, legal officers, and staff of the court registry. A simple random sampling technique was utilized to sample 1,650  respondents, and 1287 responses were retrieved indicating a 78% response rate. A self-designed questionnaire titled "Legal Resources  and Services Scale" (LRASS) was used for data collection. Ethical standards governing data collection and treatment was strictly adhered  to in sampling of respondents, data collection, and handling of data. Descriptive analysis of frequency count, percentages, mean score  and standard deviation were used for data analysis. The findings show that resources and services are adequate, it was also found that  challenges such as poor funding, poor internet connectivity, an attitude of staff, lack of qualified personnel, high cost of information  materials among others are affecting the provision of information resources and services. Based on the findings, it was that  recommended, periodic review of law library resources and services to identify need-based areas and dedicate available funds and time  in addressing these areas, also, the government and management of law libraries should allocate more funds to the library for maximum  performance in the provision of legal resources and services.