Awareness and use of scholarly electronic journals by members of academic staff: A case study of Faculty of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to find out the awareness and use of e-journals by members of academic staff of the Faculty of Agriculture Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. A questionnaire was used as the main method for data collection and was supplemented by interview and observation methods. The findings revealed that the level of use of scholarly electronic journals was high and the use of search engines such as Google was high amongst members of academic staff. It was further revealed that, scholarly electronic journals were mainly used by members of academic staff for research and academic purposes. It is however found that, lack of awareness and limited searching skills were the main factors which were militating against effective use of scholarly electronic journals. In order to improve and maximize the optimum usage of scholarly electronic journals by members of academic staff, the study recommends the following: the institution should employ proactive marketing strategies such as the use of calendars, newsletters, posters, workshops/training, flyers and brochures, website; conduct training on the use of scholarly electronic journals databases and subscribe to relevant scholarly electronic journals.