Utilisation of electronic theses and dissertations for research by postgraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the Utilization of electronic theses and Dissertations for Research by postgraduate Students Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. The specific objective was to identify the purpose of utilizing electronic theses & dissertations by postgraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and it also investigated the extent of the utilization of electronic theses & dissertations for research by postgraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, the study is quantitative and Cross-Sectional Survey research design method was be adopted for the study. Questionnaire on utilisation of electronic theses and Dissertations for Research by postgraduate Students Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (QUETDRO) with 0.912 reliability coefficient was the only instrument used for the study, targeted 320 respondents selected through stratified proportional random sampling technique from a population of 1,964 Postgraduate Students from three (3) Faculties of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Data from the survey was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics of SPSS. Frequency distribution tables and percentages were used for the descriptive statistics. While Findings from the study revealed that the main purposes for utilizing ETDs by postgraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria include learning, examination preparation, seminar preparation theses or dissertation writing in that order. The study concludes that it is obvious that Ahmadu Bello University Zaria has enough ETDs in its repository and the resources are meant more for research and academic purposes and recommended that the use of ETDs has many purposes of which some postgraduate students are not aware, such as entertainment and for group discussions, therefore there should be adequate awareness on the several uses of ETDs for research purposes and the greatest challenge hindering ETDs utilization is Inadequate Internet search skills, Therefore all postgraduate should undergo compulsory course on how to use the various search engines to source for students information electronically.