IMPACT OF ACCESSIBILITY AND UTILIZATION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION

RESOURCES BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT MOUNT KENYA

UNIVERSITY, ELDORET LIBRARY

BY ;
VARCITY JERUTTO KIROP

BSCIS/2021/82693

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF INFORMATION
SCIENCE.
MOUNT-KENYA UNIVERSITY

FEBRUARY 2024

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 DECLARATION AND RECOMMENDATION

Declaration by the student

This is my own original work and has never been presented to any institution of higher learning
for academic purposes. No part of this proposal will be reproduced without permission of the
author.

Varcity Jerutto Kirop

BSCIS/2021/82693

Signature…………. Date……………………

Approval by the supervisor

This proposal has been submitted for examination with my approval as the University supervisor

Signature……………………. Date………………………….
Lecturer,

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 DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this research proposal to my parents for their financial support, love,
ideas and patience during the writing period of this proposal. I also take this precious time to
thank my Friends for their support.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank almighty God for His guidance at every stage of this proposal. Also my
gratitude goes to my supervisor for his tireless efforts and great support.

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ABSTRACT
Academic libraries are critical contributors to knowledge generation which serves wide
spectrum of the society. The fundamental role of academic library is to collect, process,
and store, disseminate and utilize information to provide services to the user community.
The use of digital resources has contributed to reshaping of information retrieval and
access to practices in university libraries. In order to make use of the growing range of
electronic resources users must acquire and practice the skills necessary to exploit the
digital information. The aim of this study will be to assess the extent of access and
utilization of digital information services in academic libraries in Kenya with reference to
Mount Kenya University library. Objectives of the study will be to assess access and
utilization of digital information resources in the Mount Kenya University library,
establish the level of awareness of digital information services in the library, identify the
challenges facing the library users in relation to access and utilization of digital
information services in the library and suggest possible solutions to the identified
problems in the library. This study used a descriptive survey design where the target
population comprised of 96 postgraduate students of the Mount Kenya University. The
sampling technique applied to arrive at the target population will be purposive sampling
technique. Data will be gathered and collected through the use of questionnaire for
postgraduate students in the school of business. The findings revealed that majority of the
respondents often used the library to access digital information resources mainly for
writing class assignments. The study also showed that majority of the respondents rarely
approached the librarians for assistance in the library and majority will be unaware of
digital information services.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Digital Information Services...............................................................................21

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION AND RECOMMENDATION...................................................................II
DEDICATION.......................................................................................................................III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.....................................................................................................IV
ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................V
LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................................VI
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS..............................................................IX
1.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER ONE......................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background to the Study...................................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem...................................................................................5
1.3 Purpose of the Study..........................................................................................................6
1.4 Objective of theStudy........................................................................................................6
1.5 ResearchQuestions.............................................................................................................6
1.6 Significance of the Study...................................................................................................7
1.7 Assumptions of the Study..................................................................................................7
1.8 Scope of the Study.............................................................................................................7
1.9 Limitations of the Study....................................................................................................7
1.10 Operational Definition of Terms and Concepts Academic Libraries..............................8
Access......................................................................................................................................8
Digital Information..................................................................................................................8
Electronic Resources...............................................................................................................8
Digital Reference Services......................................................................................................9
2.0 Introduction.....................................................................................................................10
CHAPTER TWO...................................................................................................................10
LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................................................10
2.1 Digital Library and Information Systems........................................................................10
2.2.1 Rationale for Digital Information Systems...................................................................12
2.2 Digital Information Services...........................................................................................14
2.3 Challenges of Digital Information Services....................................................................16
2.4 Empirical Studies.............................................................................................................19
2.5 Conceptual Framework....................................................................................................21
Figure 2.1: Digital Information Services...............................................................................22
2.6 Summary..........................................................................................................................23
CHAPTER THREE...............................................................................................................24
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................24
3.0 Introduction.....................................................................................................................24
3.1 Research Design..............................................................................................................24
3.2 Area Study.......................................................................................................................24
3.3 Target Population............................................................................................................24
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique....................................................................................25
3.5 Sample Size.....................................................................................................................25
3.6 Sampling Technique........................................................................................................26
3.7 Data Collection Methods.................................................................................................26
3.7.1 Questionnaire................................................................................................................26

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3.8 Research Instruments.......................................................................................................27
3.9 Pilot Study.......................................................................................................................27
3.9.1 Validity.........................................................................................................................28
3.9.1 Reliability.....................................................................................................................28
3.10 Data Analysis and Presentation.....................................................................................28
3.11 Data Collection Procedures...........................................................................................29
3.12 Ethical Considerations...................................................................................................29
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................30
APPENDICES.......................................................................................................................32
Appendix I: Introduction Letter.............................................................................................32
APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS......................33
THANK YOU........................................................................................................................35
APPENDIX III: WORK PLAN.............................................................................................36
APPENDIX IV: RESEARCH BUDGET..............................................................................37

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
CD-ROM: Compact Disk Read Only Memory
CAE: College of Architecture and Engineering
CARL: Canadian Association of Research Libraries
CHSS: College of Humanities and Social Sciences
CUE: Commission for University Education
DIS: Digital Information Services
DL: Digital Library
DLF: Digital Library Federation
DLMS: Digital Library Management Systems
E-Books: Electronic Books
E-Age: Electronic Age
E-Journals: Electronic Journals
E-Resources: Electronic Resources
FAQS: Frequently Asked Questions
ICTs: Information Communication and Technologies
IFLA: International Federation of Library Associations
IT: Information Technology
OPAC: Online Public Access Catalogue
OA: Open Access
SOB: School of Business
MKU; Mount Kenya University
WWW: World Wide Web

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction.
This chapter discusses the background information to the study, statement of the problem,
aim and objectives of the study and research questions. Chapter also outlines the
importance of the study, scope, limitations as well as the conceptual framework.

1.1 Background to the Study

Development of information technology (IT) and the popularization of network
applications have made people nowadays obtain their required information and
knowledge mainly by means of the internet. A digital library is an extensible knowledge
network system under internet environments and a community service organization
which can provide information and knowledge services for people and improve civil
education for all-round development. Digital libraries have been emphasized by many
countries and developed forcefully since the early 1990s. Responding to this kind of
threat and challenge, many countries have begun to study and create advanced
management models for digital libraries, and all these models try to make reference to the
advantages of search engines and avoiding the inherent weakness of them, to realize
digital libraries‟culture and social value (Men-Xing, Chun-Xiao&Yong,2010:31).

Exponential growth of information in the internet and related sources coupled with
increased usage has led to the development of digital library systems that provide
numerous services. Central to the systems is massive digitization, storage, access,
knowledge mining, digital reference services, electronic information services, search co-
ordination, management and access of archive materials (Sharma & Arora, 2005:42).
Libraries have traditionally been part of the global information infrastructure an
ideological and cultural force with far reaching implications in society. Over centuries
libraries have collected, maintained, organized and provided access to information and
knowledge resources that enable individuals, organizations and communities to achieve
institutional goals and objectives. Libraries today continue to mobilize and provide access
to local and global knowledge for social, political and economic development. In doing

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so libraries act as gateways for information and tools for bridging the information divide
within countries and between countries (Kavulya, 2007).

Academic libraries as fountains of knowledge provide services to support learning and

research activities to the parent organizations. Academic library is attached to higher
education institution which serves two complementary purposes - support the
school‟s curriculum, and support the research of the university faculty and students. The
mission is to provide quality information service and knowledge products (print and
electronic) to resident community of scholars. The Canadian Association of
Research Libraries (CARL) report revealed that, in the year 2000/2001 academic
libraries subscribed to 436,731 electronic journals. The same report also states that
librarians are leaders in using technology to transform traditional library resources
and services to meet the challenges of the 21 st century. Academic library is not
static free - standing unit but ultimately its quality must be judged by the quality
of outcomes of the institution. Academic libraries are part of the large academic
institution. Generation, organization and dissemination of information and knowledge
are subject to constant change since 1980s. Most academic libraries have the facility
of internet resources which supplement the print collection of the library (Kulkarini,
2009:198). Continual evolvement of digital technologies and more importantly the
ways in which these tools are being used to access, select, manipulate and produce
resources has caused many librarians to rethink on the way forward. In focusing on
the larger social and spatial context in which technologies are used to enhance the
learning process, academic libraries are beginning to realise the possibilities of digital
information services. In this respect, academic libraries have long stood unchallenged
throughout the world as the primary source of recorded knowledge and historical
records. Academic libraries in Kenya seem to be facing daunting challenges in
regardtotheprimaryroleofdeliveringinformationtotheusers (Makori, 2009:10).

In the era of unprecedented technological innovation and evolving user expectations and
information seeking behaviour, information perusals are arguably on the online society,
with digital services increasingly common and increasingly preferred. As trusted

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information provider, libraries are in advantageous position to respond, but this requires
integrated strategic and enterprise architecture planning, for IT has evolved from support
role to strategic role, providing the core management systems, communication networks
and delivery channels of the modern library. Librarians use information communication
technologies (ICTs) to perform functions such as cataloguing and classification, serials
management, collection management circulation services among others in order to
improve service delivery. In addition, IT components do not function in isolation from
one another but are interdependent elements of distributed and multidimensional systems
encompassing people, processes and technologies, which must consider social, economic,
legal, organisational and economic requirements and relationships, as well as being
logically sound from technical perspective (Buchanan,2010:159).

Academic library is not just limited to material circulation, but should be viewed as
useful channel for sharing knowledge, and powerful mechanism that can help personal
improvement of studying performance. Most proposed personalized digital library
systems have been focusing on personalized content representation or design of user
interface. Studies pay less attention to the design of knowledge integration mechanism
according to individual cognition or individual need in study. Consequently, to help users
efficiently make use of various information and knowledge resources to enhance personal
studying ability is considerable issue in developing personalized digital library. In
addition, making use of the abundant digital resources in digital libraries to help users
rapidly construct the knowledge structure is also important issue (Kao & Wu, 2012:493).
Indeed most of the library functions are being outsourced in the digital environment that
affects the future libraries which provide the link in the chain of socialknowledge transfer
where different kinds of systems take care of different functions. Though big libraries are
indeed related to the permanent availability of documents, small and medium size
libraries are nearer the functions of other private actors like booksellers, which are more
concerned with short- and medium-term access to documents (Garcia-Marco, 2011:116).

In order to make use of the growing range of electronic resources, students must acquire
and practice skills necessary to exploit these resources. Skill learning is essential in the

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technology driven environment but enhanced tremendously through the use of innovative
learning strategies (Okello-Obura& Magara 2008: 15). The same authors suggests that
the skills required in accessing the maximum potential of digital information services are
much greater than those required for searching printed sources. Harun (2006:5)
investigated the use, perceived usefulness and satisfaction with electronic resources
among the Kulliyyah Islamic Revealed Knowledge (KIRK) and Kulliyyah of Information
and Communication Technology (KICT) postgraduate students. The findings of the
research showed that Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) will be the most regularly
used among e- resources provided by the ILLUM library. Nlyidizi (2005) suggests that
most students come from rural environment with poor learning facilities that do not
include library as an integral part of learning. This indicates that the students have not
been exposed to information technologies and information sources. This partly provides
the explanation why some students do not use the e–resources in the library. Tella (2007)
argues that the library users‟ ability to find and retrieve information effectively is
transferable skill useful for future life in addition to enabling positive and successful use
of the electronic resources while at the university.

Matusiak (2012) asserts that, the library users especially students do not perceive
academic libraries as useful source of digital images and therefore use search engines
when searching for visual resources. This shows that efforts are made to improve services
although some users do not see libraries as suitable ventures for disseminating electronic
services. The findings also revealed that students spend less time to utilize the digital
library resources and this has made some students have less knowledge about some of the
resources that are available in the digital contents in the library. Several studies have
shown that digital information services have several advantages. Researchers carried out
by Lwoga (20011), Makori (2012:31) will be conducted on the advantages of digital
libraries. These advantages make the creation of digital libraries strategic method to
enhance information access in the Sub-Saharan region. Digital information can easily be
shared and therefore made available to everybody, which is great improvement on print
libraries, that requires expensive duplication of material in different locations. In addition
digital libraries provide faster method of accessing, utilizing and exchanging information

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 in all sectors such as research, scholarship, medicine, government services and business.
Digital information services are available on 24/7 basis from anywhere in the world,
offering flexible arrangements for students, researchers, scholars and the community. The
reviewed literature has indicated that there is very little research that has been done on
access and utilization of digital information services in academic libraries in institutions
of higher learning more so undergraduate students

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

A "Statement of the Problem" is a clear and concise description of the issue or challenge that a
research project, business initiative, or problem-solving effort aims to address. It serves several
key functions. The rapid advancement of digital technology has transformed access to
information across various sectors, including education, healthcare, and business. In the modern
educational landscape, digital information resources play a crucial role in supporting academic
success and personal development. Despite these advancements, disparities in access to and
utilization of digital information resources persist. The effectiveness of these resources is
influenced by how accessible and widely utilized they are by undergraduate students.

Undergraduate students in developing countries for instance Mount Kenya University have
significant barriers to accessing and effectively utilizing digital information resources. These
barriers include inconsistent or inadequate internet access, insufficient digital literacy, and lack
of familiarity with available digital tools and platforms. Consequently, these challenges hinder
students' ability to engage fully with their coursework and academic activities. Evidence
suggests that [specific statistic or observation, e.g., "about 30% of undergraduate students
experience difficulties with reliable internet access, and 35% report feeling unprepared to use
digital tools effectively for academic purposes"]. These issues are particularly pronounced in
certain demographic groups and geographic locations, exacerbating educational inequalities.
These issues hinder the ability of individuals and organizations to leverage digital resources for
educational, professional, or personal development. The digital divide exacerbates existing
inequalities and limits opportunities for those affected.

The difficulties in accessing and utilizing digital information resources can have several
negative impacts on undergraduate students, including lower academic performance, reduced
engagement with coursework, and increased stress. For instance, students may struggle to find

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and use academic journals, participate in online learning activities, or collaborate effectively on
digital platforms, ultimately affecting their overall educational experience.At the same time
limited accessibility and underutilization of digital information resources can lead to diminished
educational outcomes, reduced economic opportunities, and lower overall quality of life. For
example, students may struggle to complete assignments, professionals may find it challenging
to stay updated with industry trends, and communities may face barriers to accessing essential
services

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The aim of this study is to assess the extent of accessibility and utilization of digital
information resources academic by undergraduate students at Mount kenya , Eldoret with
particular reference to the Mount Kenya University
1.4 Objective of theStudy.
The study will be guided by the following objectives to:
i. To assess accessibility and utilization of digital information resources in the Mount
Kenya University ,Eldoret library
ii. To establish the level of the user awareness of digital information resources.
iii. To identify the challenges facing the users in relation to accessibility utilization of
digital information resources.
iv. To suggest possible solutions or strategies to the identified problems information
resources.
1.5 ResearchQuestions
The study will be guided by the following questions:
i. What is the extent of accessibility and utilization of digital information resources by
undergraduate students at Mount Kenya University ,Eldoret library?
ii. What is the user‟s level of awareness of the existence, preference towards digital
information resources by undergraduate students at Mount Kenya University, Eldoret
library?
iii. What are the challenges facing the information users in relation to accessibility and
utilization of digital information resources by undergraduate students at Mount Kenya
University ,Eldoret library?

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iv. What are the possible solutions or strategies to enhance utilization of digital
information resources by undergraduate students at Mount Kenya University, Eldoret
library?
1.6 Significance of the Study
Information professionals and library users will benefit from this study by having
knowledge on the anticipated benefits of digital information services and have insight
into the impediment of accessing electronic services within the library and on remote
accessing. The study enables both policy makers and management of the Mount Kenya
University and institutions of higher learning to improve or enhance current level of
achievement of digital information for better and efficient services in thefuture.

The library management of Mount Kenya University is able to determine the benefits
visa-a - vis the challenges of digital information services, and therefore device
mechanisms for tackling the use of access and challenges of digital information services
(dis) in the university libraries. This study is important in laying the foundation in
research of digital information services and resources in libraries of developing countries.
The stakeholders and policy makers in the education sector will be informed on how to
formulate budget allocation for the university libraries.

1.7 Assumptions of the Study

The following assumptions of the study will be made;
1. All respondents are aware of the digital information resources by undergraduate
students at the Mount Kenya University, Eldoret library
2. All respondents would be cooperative and answer the questionnaire

1.8 Scope of the Study

The study mainly concerned itself with access and utilization of digital information
services in the Mount Kenya University Library Mount Kenya University , Kenya

1.9 Limitations of the Study

The study limited only the undergraduate students of the school of business. There are
many schools in the Mount Kenya University but school of Business undergraduate
students will be chosen considering the fact that it is among the largest school in the
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Mount Kenya University so the population will be a large enough to provide a
representative sample. Time constraint will be another reason why school of Business
will be selected as the researcher will be working during the day hence had difficulty in
balancing the time.

Another limitation will be not all questionnaires will be returned as some of the
respondents cited busy working schedules. At the time of data collection the University
will be preparing for the 52 graduation ceremony hence getting the respondents proved
an uphill exercise. Funds will be also a limiting factor based on the fact the researcher is
self-sponsored.
1.10 Operational Definition of Terms and Concepts Academic Libraries

These are libraries in educational establishments at any level universities, colleges and
researchassociations

Access
Information retrieval a device or method whereby a document may be found, permission
and opportunity to use a document, or the approach to any means of storing information
e.g. index, bibliography, catalogue and computer terminal.

Digital Information
Content from any source and in any format that has been transferred into digital the
format for loading onto electronic source of information. These are electronic resources
available.

They and focused colleceresourcest.f digital objects, including text, images, video and
audio, with the methods of access, and retrieval and for the selection creation,
organization maintenance and sharing of collection. Digital libraries provide selected
information resources in a structured digital format. They make them accessible or
retrievable by a defined community or a set of community user.

Electronic Resources
Materials consisting of data or computer program encoded for reading and manipulation
by the computer by use of the peripheral device directly connected to the computer,

8
through the internet. This category includes software applications electronic texts and
bibliographic databases.

Digital Reference Services

Reference services, web-based reference services and electronic reference service are
used interchangeably as terms with similarmeaning.

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 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction
This chapter reviews literature based on the following issues; digital Information
resources and services in academic libraries, rationale of digital- based information
resources and finally the challenges encountered in the provision of digital information
services in academic libraries.

2.1 Digital Library and Information Systems

The domain of the digital library represents many interest groups and disciplines such as,
data management, information retrieval, library science, document management,
information systems, web, image processing, artificial intelligence, human computer
interaction and digital conservation groups. The three areas of interest identified include
librarianship, computing research/e-business and social drivers. These interests or
backgrounds influence the conception of the digital library although different people have
different, conceptions, approaches and visualisation of the innovation. Anunobi
(2011:373) viewed the digital library as the provision of library and information services
for users. Development of the digital library is also influenced by the mission statement
of the organisation including its collection, preservation, access and economicfunctions.

Every digital library is permeated with complex and multi-dimensional structures,

patterns and relationships. Some of this complexity is explicitly encoded through
descriptive metadata semantic markup, and hyperlinks. But much remains implicit
accessible, latent or hidden in the collection. To make implicit accessible and useful,
digital libraries generate explicit, higher level representations. (Fast and Sedig, 2010:
170).The attributes of the digital library that guides its development is composed of three
systems – digital library (DL), digital library system (DLS) and digital library
management system (DLMS).(Chowdhuruy,2010:209) This manifesto brought together
various views and characteristics/attributes of the digital library (Anunobi, 2011:378). In
the development of digital technologies, digital resources have become more popular and
important to university teachers and students who are the library users. Most of, theusers

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may think that the digital library is just the shortcut to accessing online databases, only
few of users would like to utilize the services and information in digital library. In the
face of competition from commercial search engines, digital libraries should take some
action to engage the users‟ attention. In the internet world, the most popular though not
the best provides all types of information. In particular a merit system has been
developed and implemented to increase the user viscosity with the digital library of a
university (Yang, 2012:184).

Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources including specialised staff to
select, structure, offer intellectual access to interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of
and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works that are readily and
economically available for use by the defined community or set of communities (Fox,
2011: 13). Though the focus of this concept is on the document collection, it stresses the
fact that digital libraries are much more than random assembly of digital objects. Digital
libraries retain the several qualities of traditional libraries such as defined community of
users, the possibility of selecting, organizing, preserving and sharing resources (Adzabu,
2014:39). The information system offers users the prospect of access to electronic
resources at their convenience temporally and spatially. Users do not have to be
concernedwiththephysicallibrary‟shoursofoperation,anddon‟thavetogophysically to the
library to access resources (McMenemy, 2012:510).

Digital library is the concept of remote access to the contents and services of libraries and
other information resources, combining on- site collection of current heavily used
materials in both print and electronic forms, with an electronic network that provides
access to, and delivery from external worldwide library, commercial information and
knowledge source (Aunobi&Ezeani, 2011).The system must not be seen as merely
digitized collection of information objects plus related management tools, rather
electronic environment bringing together collections, services and people to support the
full cycle of creation, dissemination, use and preservation of data, information and
knowledge. A number of intermediate goals are formulated for academic libraries to
support teaching, learning and research. Academic libraries provide a wide range of array
of services to assist members of the library with organizing collections of materials or

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making them more widely available. These services are as follows; catalogue databases
current awareness bulletins, externally purchased databases, and remote information
services, internally published newsletters report and journals, among others Wu, 2012).

2.2.1 Rationale for Digital Information Systems

The digital revolution has brought dramatic changes to information storage, access and
retrieving processes. The creation of digital libraries has made essential impact on
teaching and learning process. Digital information services facilitate information services
for library users, independent of time and place. This is much needed especially if active
learning styles become the common place (Anunobi&Ezeani, 2011:382).

Major benefits of digital information services include storing resources in digital forms,
which allows online access to library users at numerous locations at anytime and
anywhere, at home, in class, and laboratories, among others. Digital information services
provide various search techniques to access the digitized resources (Matusiak, 2012:138).
Digital information services containing representations of original works provide
opportunities for students and scholars to conduct research from their personal computers
and workstations wherever users are.

Sharma and Arora (2005:43) assert that the digital library has the open architecture built
on a collection of distributed information repositories where information is stored in
multiple formats which contains both metadata and data. These multiple formats offer
numerous advantages such as makes the library collection for global use; saves the users
„time; solves the space problem; facilitates the function of the library; precludes the
problem of theft, defacing, tearing of pages and binding of library documents which are
universal; increases the life of the documents and also provides the latest and accurate
information.

Today‟s information environment is hybrid. This hasbeen occasioned bythe desireof

library users to have access to unprecedented amounts of information in varying formats.
Information has become a critical factor in our time. Globalization has impacted on legal
education,researchliterature,practiceandlegalinformationmanagement(John-Okeke,

1
2008). Today‟sweb-based information services include personal web pages developing
into blogs, encyclopaedia developing into wikis, text-based tutorials, email customer
support infrastructures into information services (O‟Reilly, 2006). The web provides a
unified access point to all library digital resources such as local and remote electronic
resources, web Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs) and bibliographic databases.
Law students and researchers are aware of the numerous benefits of utilizing online legal
information. As along as the core mission of libraries remains information services, all
efforts should be made to provide the right kind of information to the right users.
Librarians are aware of the dangers of using the internet. They advise on suitable
authentic databases for particular types of information; and steering people away from
internet sites of doubtful origin in favour of trusted and authoritative sources (Doe, 2006).

Libraries are undergoing many changes due to ICT and digital revolution. Academic
libraries have to provide information to users‟ desktop instantly irrespective of place,
time and format. The massive development of ICT has changed the role of library and
information centres. Information resources and systems are being made available in
various formats such as portable document format (PDF), Hyper Text Mark-up Language
(HTML), image audio and video. In this changing world librarians and academic libraries
should have a major role in managing these digital information resources and systems
(Dhanavandan, 2011: 68) Information communication technology has made it possible to
provide and make information more accessible than it used to be. Electronic sources are
available 24 hours, wider access has been achieved by the centralization of information.
The user can conveniently access these resources remotely and does not have to
physically travel to the library. Digital information resources are sharable. Shared
responsibility brings cost to a low level. A lot of collaborations are needed in the
acquisitions of electronic information. Most libraries have entered into consortium.
Moreover a lot of useful and authentic websites offer free online resources for example
East African Legal Information Institute (EALII) (John-Okeke, 2008).

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2.2 Digital Information Services
Modern libraries have evolved from centralised, paper-based systems into distributed
networks of digital and non-digital materials, providing innovative library services as
well as traditional services. With the dramatic increase of available materials and user
expectations, libraries are forced to exploit new technology to fulfil own missions with
relatively limited resources. Intelligent agent technology, rapidly developing research
area, has the potential for libraries (Liu, 2011). The volume of digital materials and
information sources are getting larger and larger, and the systems have to move from
being passive (with little personalization for users) to being proactive (with customized
information for individual users). In particular, the personalization helps satisfy the needs
of individuals by understanding client preference, gradually becoming one of the
important ways to improve the service quality of DLs (Kao & Wu,2012:510).

Digital services are considered as services or resources accessed and/or provided through
digital transaction. Services range from the relatively straightforward, such as provision
of online tools, virtual space for collaboration and sharing of content to online reference
services, and more complex distributed and interactive systems as digitized local archive
collections purposefully linked to the local school curriculum through virtual learning
environments. In the role of access provider, the digital library also establishes links to
other public information providers for sharing societal goals such as lifelong learning and
health and wellbeing, across education, health and the arts. (Buchanan &McMenemy,
2010:42).

Digital reference service is characterized by communication in one direction of time

typically by e-mail or web forms. It involves the use of frequently asked questions
(FAQS), e-resources which are comprised of subject guides, lists journals and other
content and e-mail which may be form – based or address – oriented. Digital reference
services refer to the network of expertise, intermediation and resources put at the disposal
of the user seeking answers in online or networked digital information service. The
system has unique challenges and opportunities because of many diverse requirements
involving collaborative support, rapid access, highly interactive interfaces, digital
document imaging, distributed database management, hypertext information retrieval,

1
enforcement of intellectual property rights, integration of multimedia information
services, management of multilingual collection, information mining, electronic reference
service, electronic document delivery and selective dissemination of information. As a
result deployment of DIS requires integration of several information technologies
(Radford, 2006).

IFLA (2005) noted that DIS provide access to a very large information collection(s);
support multimedia content and support search and retrieval and provide user friendly
interfaces among others. Makori (2009) observes that, there has been increased
professionalspeculationanddebateabouttheendofthelibraryasthephysical„„place‟‟because of
digital and web based information. Establishing and developing relationships with users
is imperative if academic libraries and information professionals are to meet the needs of
the millennial generation. Libraries have to improve facility accommodations with group
study space and incorporate social software such as IM, blogs, online chat, and Wikis
into library instruction and reference services. Academic libraries in Kenya will continue
to adopt innovative approaches to manage information. Additionally, the libraries need to
adopt the business-like approach to market their information products and services. This
requires constant monitoring and evaluation of trends facing the information
environment. Generally, libraries should not only be seen as dealing with books but also
provides one stop shopping center that utilizes appropriate technology to provide array of
information products andservices.

Digital information services among them E-books are commonly perceived as offering
great potential for teaching and learning (Armstrong et al, 2006), they are attractive to
scholarly communities (Nicholas et al, 2007) and have “greater potential to change the
information landscape than journals” (Rowlands et al, 2007: 489). Indeed, the digital
format offers many opportunities for books to be developed as interactive learning
resources and in some cases substituting for locally designed learning resources and
experience. Many academic libraries are only in a position to make a limited list of e-
books available and are highly dependent on publishersdecisions.

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With modern networking technology and the internet, today‟s academic libraries have
extended their own specific information resources services and teaching activities outside
the library buildings. Academic libraries utilizes a virtual private network (NPN) to
provide faculty, instructors, students, and staff with access to the university library‟s
databases and other information resources. VPN provide users with secure remote access
to restricted information resources via the internet off campus. Wireless Access in
Academic Library technologies are being widely applied to diverse academic library
settings. Digital libraries should enable any citizen to access all human knowledge
anytime and anywhere in a friendly, multi-model, efficient and effective way by
overcoming barriers of distance, language and culture and by using multiple internets
connected devices (Sukula, 2013).

2.3 Challenges of Digital Information Services

Digitallibraryservicesaredesignedforthelibrary‟spatronsaswellasforprofessional staff on
the needs and capacities to supply information content and systems, including various
challenges (Bakeri, 2012). Perhaps greater reward accrues from recent efforts to define
which of the systems is necessary to support digital libraries and need to be developed
and maintained by the library. Infrastructural services required by the digital library but
more effectively mounted on institutional, or even cross-institutional level are needed. In
the commercial world, high tech utility services are the staff of business to business
sector: Encouraging a similar developmental trajectory for digital library services that are
commonly required but beyond the capacity of any single library organization to supply
would require libraries to articulate requirements and aggregate demand for such services
in order to create incentives for third party suppliers to move in and supply the market
(Sekarani,2006).

Digital libraries demand cutting edge in IT and communication infrastructure such as,
optical fibre and networks with required number of workstations capable of providing
online information services. Computing and multimedia applications as well as internet
connectivity with sufficient bandwidth are also important, as they are capable of meeting
informational and computational requirement of the user community (Haliso, 2007).
There are many more related facilities and services that are highly essential in ideal

1
digital library environment. Chisenge (2006) observes that, ICT infrastructure in most of
the institutions and organizations are not up to the desired level so as to run advanced
digital library services to the optimum level. Koehn and Hawamdeh (2010) argue that
there are cultural issues at play also as the “increasing quantity of born-digital material
and the growing preference of users for digital information access are forcing libraries to
rethink the strategy in managing financial resources and serving the greater community”
he stated. Further, Koehn and Hawamdeh in a research conducted involving telephone
interviews with just under 4,000 members of the public concluded that “the Internet will
be overwhelmingly preferred over the library for the majority of users, many of which
fall under the library‟s traditional mission of information provision”.

In most libraries paper based documents outnumber the electronic subscriptions and
acquisitions. Some of the libraries need retro conversion and digitization of the library
holdings too. Several studies show that there is severe lapse on the libraries with regard to
proper planning of information resources that are conducive for developing digital
libraries (Lui, 2011; Kao & Wu, 2012; Chowdhury, 2010; &Matusiak 2012). Electronic
information resources penetrate libraries in multiplicity of complex formats and with
different access terms and conditions. These information resources are scattered and
distributed across a wide variety of publications.

Major administrative challenge is in complying with the copyright and intellectual

property rights issues. The library authorities have to discuss seriously with publishers on
this aspect in order to involve some mechanism of profit to users, publishers and authors.
Users may be charged for each access, downloading from severs, or each kind of digital
library collection and this causes the challenge to the user due to cost demands. Security
aspects are the most pressing challenge of digital information service. Piracy of database,
vital invasion and parallel satellite networking stress are some of the issues academic
libraries are confronted as a way of routine. Additionally, lack of expertise, not too many
vendors is available in the country and abroad as well. Overseas vendors charge
exorbitantly and are reluctant to import techniques or technology (Liu & Lou, 2011).

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Digital libraries are multimedia products incorporating structured text, sound graphics,
pictures, photographs and video clips which require intensive use of bandwidth.
Developing countries as such have restrictions of bandwidth problems that hinder access
utilization of digital information services. Moreover increased use of network for
transferring data by more people increases the load on the network traffic. This is further
compounded by the size transferred if it includes full-text multimedia document. Indeed,
simple text takes up only small amount of space, picture and graphics take up more;
video and sound files are really space - hungry demanding much more space and
transmission time (Anunobi&Ezeani, 2011:307). Digital library services vary, for
example, interactive mode between library and user, or mutually beneficial mode of
resources-services or personalised service mode based upon subjects/individual demands.
All these would not be realised without systematic co-operation involving resources,
services, organisations and librarians. Funding human resource management and
technology development as well contribute to the digital library system (Xiao,2010:306).

Digital technologies present preservation solution for the documents in libraries with
increase access to digitized documents over the electronic networks. Technological and
associated internet and web technologies are in continuous flux of change. New standards
and protocols are being defined on regular basis for file formats, compression techniques,
hardware components, network interface storage and devices (Tzoc&Millard,
2011:12).The digital library services face constant threat of “techno obsolescence” and
transitory standards. Magnetic and optical discs as physical media are re-engineered to
store more and more data. There is constant threat to backward compatibility for products
that will be used in the past. Digital images have to be constantly migrated and converted
to new formats computing devices, storage media and software to ensure that valuable
digital objects are not left behind in obsolete system which eventually breaks down
rendering data inaccessible. The initial conversion of printed-text into digital objects is
not only expensive but also necessitates diversion of manpower and resources into
constant re- invention of wheels in terms of migration (Chowdhury,2010).

1
Financial institutions repository infrastructure needs comprehensive policies in place so
that uniformity and cooperation can be ensured among all education providers. Some
academic institutions have adequate funding whereas privately-owned and partially-
funded institutions are lagging behind in embracing new technologies for institutional
development and suffers lack of resources. Existing infrastructure for higher institutions
necessitates a robust and open information policy that maximizes the use of educational
resources to promote open scholarship (Lyngar, 2008). Funding is necessary to run
electronic information services.

Technical knowledge on the digital elements of electronic documents is largely lacking.

Lack of digital preservation knowledge is a challenge that libraries have to grapple with
as they try to preserve their scholarship in this digital age. It is well known there is
limited knowhow on equipment and software required for preservation of digital
information amongst libraries and institutions (Malizia, Bottoni and Levialdi,2010).
Digital technology poses several challenges, because it comes in different formats both
hardware and software. Therefore libraries need not only plan and budget for costs of the
costs of actual hardware and software but also training human resources. There is the cost
of maintaining international standards of digital formats which is an expensive exercise
as it is based on paying for upgrades. Increasingly libraries are using open source
software especially digitizing their own institutional knowledge research output.
However, even if the actual software is open source and therefore presumed to be free”
there are costs that libraries have to incur especially training (Kanyego, 2009:36).

2.4 Empirical Studies

Several digital information usage studies in recent years have focused on standardized
usage counts. Yetis (2005) points out that the fundamental outcome of the introduction of
digital technology within libraries is the fascinating possibility of systematic organization
and storage of information in large-scale databases. Conventional methods of collecting
and presenting information have become more expensive and time-consuming whereby
placing digital information on networks is regarded as a major advance over the physical
maintenance of some library services.

1
Zheng (2008) conducted a survey that showed the factors affecting teachers making full
use of digital information resources are complex such as method of use and cognition
unfamiliarity with computer and networks, and lack of ability. In addition many did not
know what the library actually buys, while some older ones assume and think that the age
factor is hindrance to use digital information services and resources. When such users
need digital sources then graduate students are used to search and help them. Chowdhury
and Chowdhury (2003) suggest that usability is a relative concept and must be judged on
the basis of a digital library‟s intended goals emphasizing the importance of cultural
issues the usability of information services. Bertot (2004) identifies four evaluation
strategies to assess use and access of digital libraries; output assessment; which involves
identification of the number of activities that patrons engage, such as the number of
databases used to determine the usage of resources and services. Performance measures,
which evaluate the specific resources or services in terms of efficiency and effectiveness,
such as the cost per item downloaded. Service quality determines the overall quality of
resources and services to meet the quality standard and outcomes assessment, determines
the effects on patrons in terms of their benefits.

Parida (2010: 202) emphasized the significance of digital libraries in the present
information era and described their substructure and technological requirements like
hardware, software, electronic resources and different types of reference services. The
author further gave a brief overview of hardware requirements for developing a state of
art digital library. It also described the core elements of how libraries should design and
develop the library system in order to satisfy the library systems in order to satisfy the
users of the twenty first century. Digitization of information requires knowledge of
intellectual property rights, especially copyright. This is especially important if the
information is going to be utilized in an academic environment. An academic
environment itself entails that knowledge in whatever form is at the centre of every
activity. The author acknowledged ignorance about the prevalence of plagiarism at
universities in South Africa.

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2.5 Conceptual Framework
Conceptual framework for the study on the impact of accessibility and utilization of
digital information resources by undergraduate students at Mount Kenya University,
Eldoret, can be visualisation as in the table.

Figure 1.1 therefore aids to visualize the relationship between key concepts and variables
that are relevant to this study. The diagram illustrates that within the particular context,
given challenge occurs.

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 Independent Variables

Accessibility of Digital Information

Availability Services
Users friendliness.

Digital Information resources

Improved research skills
Grades Higher quality outputs
Academic performance Age Improved learning experience
Economic Issues Gender Digital Presentation Content Delivery Competent Staff
Exam results IT support
●Training sessions

Dependent Intervening Variables Outcome

Variables

Figure 2.1: Digital Information Services

The above conceptual framework strives to explain relationship between variables namely, independent, dependent and intervening
variables and the expected outcome fromthisprocess.Inaddition,itclearlyshowshowthesevariablesareinterlinkedand
The dependent variables such as academic performance, grades,quality of assignments
and exams results administrative may hinder the expected outcome which is improved
research skills, improved learning experience and digital presentation Intervening
variables explain the relation or provide causal link between the other variables that is
independent and dependent variables. In this case the availability of digital information
resources as digital texts and images does not necessarily guarantee smooth accessibility
of these digital objects and texts once they have been acquired by the available funds or
resources.

2.6 Summary
This chapter reviewed some of the existing literature on digital information resource by
undergraduate students at Mount Kenya University, eldore researcher reviewed literature
on what digital resources and information systems are composed of and their relevance to
academic resources, the rationale for digital information resources and the various types
of digital information resources offered by undergraduate students at Mount Kenya
University, eldoret.The researcher concluded with a conceptual framework which showed
the independent variable, dependent variables and intervening variables. The outcome of
these variables will be indicated as the digital information resources by undergraduate
students at Mount Kenya University, Eldoret.

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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter focuses on the procedure that will be used to carry out the study. Issues
herein include research design, location, target population, sample and sampling
procedures, data collection instruments and data analysis. Ethical issues are also
discussed accordingly.

3.1 Research Design

This study used a descriptive design which is used in preliminary and exploratory studies
that allow researchers to gather information summarize present and interpret for the
purpose of clarification. Descriptive design will be selected as the design enabled the
researcher to construct questions that help solicit the desired information, identify the
means by which the research will be conducted and data will be summarized in a way
that provided the designed descriptive information.
3.2 Area Study
The location of this study will be mount Kenya university, Eldoret library Kenya. MKU
will be chosen as an ideal site since of its centrality and it will be observed most
undergraduate students frequent the library hence a central place to target the respondents

3.3 Target Population

Population is defined as the entire group of individuals‟ events or objects having common
observable characteristics (Saunders, Lewis &Thorbill, 2009). The target population for
this study involved 600 undergraduate students of the school of business (SOB). School
of business will be purposively selected as it is among the largest schools in the Mount
Kenya University. Empirically it has been observed that there is also frequent usage of
the library by postgraduate students from the school of business. The population of
undergraduate students from School of Business will be large enough for a sample to be
drawn from as the population will be not too large or too small hence able to provide a
representative sample for the total population of postgraduate students in the Mount
Kenya University .Literature

reviewed showed that no study had been carried out in school of business on access and
utilization of DIS.

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3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique
Sampling is the procedure a researcher uses to gather people, places or things to study. It
is a process of selecting a number of individuals or objects from a population such that
the selected group contains elements of the characteristics found in the entire group
(Orodho and Kombo, 2002). A sample is a finite part of statistical population whose
properties are studied to gain information about the whole. When dealing with people, it
can be defined as asset of respondents (people) selected from a larger population for the
purpose ofsurvey.

3.5 Sample Size

The sample size will be calculated using slovin‟s formula. If a sample is taken from a
population, a formula must be used to take into account confidence levels and margins of
error. When taking statistical samples, sometimes a lot is known about a population,
sometimes a little and sometimes nothing at all. According to Ariola (2006) slovin's
formula is used when nothing about the behaviour of a population is known at all.

Slovin's formula is written as:

n = N / (1 + Ne2)

n = sample
N = Total population
e = Error tolerance

Ariola (2006) further argues that in using the formula, the error of tolerance is first
determined which can a percentage of between 90 and 99 for example a confidence level
of 90 percent (gives a margin error of 0.1 and 98 percent confidence level (a margin of
error of 0.02). In the current study a confidence level of 90 will be utilized thus the
margin of will be error of0.1
The total population of the entire students is 2278, thus applying the formula; the sample
size was;
n= 2278/ (1+2278*0.1*0.1) =96
In total 96 respondents (postgraduate students) will be utilized in the study

2
3.6 Sampling Technique
In this sample method, the researcher purposely targets a group of people believed to be
reliable for the study. In this study the School of Business will be purposively selected
because of its relatively high concentration of undergraduate students who regularly visit
+libraries at the Eldoret campus. Additionally, the undergraduate students attended
lectures at the Eldoret campus and its environs and would therefore be accessible for the
required sample size for the study. Simple random sampling will be used to select the
individual respondents hence yielded research data that can be generalised to a larger
population.

3.7 Data Collection Methods

3.7.1 Questionnaire
Questionnaires will be administered to undergraduate students in the school of business.
The questionnaire will be divided into two sections; the first section will be aimed at
gathering the demographic information of the respondents. The second section addressed
various themes in the background and objectives of the study. Questionnaire tends to be
more objective and detailed in data collection process. Questionnaire will be directly
given to the respondents who will be given time by the researcher. Others will be
collected after filling immediately and others will be to be collected later at the office in
the school of business

The main instrument for collecting data for the study will be the questionnaire that helped
to collect accurate and reliable descriptive information from the respondents. The
questions will be designed to address specific objectives of the study and constructed
using simple words to avoid confusing the respondents. The study used both closed and
open ended questions. Closed questions gave the respondent a set of choice or options
while open ended questions are free type of questions that permitted greater depth of
response and gave the respondent an opportunity to give insight into their feeling about
DIS.

The questionnaire helped in saving time since information will be collected from large
number of respondents within the short time. In some cases respondents will be
approached while in lecture halls and hence helped to capture large number of
2
respondents at once. Confidentiality will be upheld and this motivated the respondents to
give the information being sought without bias. The disadvantages of questionnaires is
that the response rate can be quiet low and in this case the data collection will be carried
out when the respondents will be preparing for the 51st graduation ceremony in august
2014 graduation which will be a big challenge. Some questionnaires will be incomplete
while others returned unanswered with no direct contact information.

3.8 Research Instruments

Research instruments are used by researchers and practitioners to help in the assessment
or evaluation of clients. The measurement tools include scales, indexes, surveys and
questionnaires. The validity and reliability of a research project depends on the type of
research instrument chosen. The researcher ensured the instruments chosen for the study
would yield the desired results. The study used a combination of data collecting
instruments. The main tool for this study will be a questionnaire for undergraduate
students in school of business. The questionnaire will be divided into two sections; the
first section will be aimed at gathering the background information of the respondents
while the second section consisted of items that address the research questions.

3.9 Pilot Study

In this study the pilot study will be conducted so as to assess the validity and reliability of
the data collection methods. In the pre-testing stage the researcher will be able to
familiarize and assess issues that might affect the data collection process such as flow of
questions, level of difficulties, and interpretation among others. To ensure the
questionnaires are tested freely, a pretest will be done. The area of study will be Kenya
Methodist University situated in Mount Kenya University . The population for the pretest
will be identified using random sampling where a total number of 20 library post
graduate students who will be randomly selected from the library. Out of the 20
postgraduate students selected for the pilot only 15 responded while the rest did not
answer the questionnaire. The results will be analyzed using both quantitative and
qualitative tools of analyses. Results of pilot study found that there will be need for
refinement modification and revision of the questions. The researcher will be able to
reformat the research instrument, remove redundancies from the question so as to ensure
easy understanding, organization and smooth flow of thestudy.
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3.9.1 Validity
Validity of research instrument is the degree of accuracy and meaningfulness of inference
based on the study results (Orodho, 2005). Validity is the degree to which results
obtained from the analysis of data represent the phenomenon under investigation. The
researcher used valid data collection instrument that is questionnaire that contained
relevant information to the study. Pre testing will be conducted and the responses to the
research questions helped the researcher identify items characterized by difficulties and
ambiguity. These will be corrected hence the quality of research instrument improved.
Integrity of the data will be adhered to through the quality control in research that ensures
highest possible level of data integrity together with findings that are totally relevant to
the project objectives and areactionable.

3.9.1 Reliability
Reliability is the consistency of measurement over time that provides the same results on
repeated trails. To obtain this a pilot study will be undertaken and data collected will be
used to compute the reliability. The questionnaire had closed and open ended questions to
ensure that the respondents gave comprehensive answers to the questions. Data coding
will be done and analyzed by research assistant that are knowledgeable with the topic of
research. None response will be assigned an input code to ensure reliability.

3.10 Data Analysis and Presentation

Descriptive analysis will be used to discuss the findings in relation to research questions
and objectives of the study. After the research data collected data will be edited to ensure
adherence of the data collection protocol and avoid actions that would lead to missing
and questionable data. The data will be converted to a form that permitted efficient and
accurate statistical analysis. The researcher developed a code book that explained what
each question will be and values associated with each question, what numerical value
represent and each of the value assigned to it. Both Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) software and manual data analysis will be used to manage, analyze and
display the data. The analyzed data will be presented in forms of tables, graphs and charts
and percentages. The analysis and interpretation of data will be done addressing the
purpose of thestudy.
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3.11 Data Collection Procedures
Questionnaires will be distributed using different approaches within the month of August
and September 2014. Respondents will be issued with the questionnaire while using the
library through direct approach. The researcher also visited their lecture halls and will be
able to distribute the questionnaires after introducing the subject to the respondents who
filled the questionnaire and handed over to their class representative after their lecture.

3.12 Ethical Considerations

Letter of introduction in Appendix I provided the formal consent for the study in the
selected school. The principle of voluntary participation will be strictly adhered to and
the respondents will be not coerced into participation in the research as they will be
requested by the researcher to grant their acceptance to respond. Participants will be
informed the purpose of the study will be purely academic and assured of confidentiality
(Appendix I). Pilot study will be based on voluntary participation from the respondents.
References made in the study will be well acknowledged to avoid plagiarism.

2
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Choughula, P. (2007). Rule of digital information services in corporate libraries.

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 APPENDICES

Appendix I: Introduction Letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

I am a student pursuing a Degree programme Bachelor of information science at Mount Kenya

University. The title of my proposed research is EFFECTS OF ACCESS AND UTILIZATION

OF DIGITAL INFORMATION SERVICES IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: THE CASE OF

MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY, I kindly request you to give the necessary data by filling in the

attached questionnaire and providing any other necessary information pertaining to the research.

All the data collected and the identity of the respondents will be treated as confidential.

Thereafter, you will be provided with the executive summary of the findings on request. Thank

you.

Yours faithfully

3
 APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Instructions
Please indicate your response by ticking the provided boxes for questions that require
suggestions or comments, please use the provided space.
Background Information
1. Name of thelibrary
2. Degree programme ofstudy
3. Level ofstudy
(a) Masters
(b) PhD

Digital Information Services

4. Which are the different digital information services available and accessible through
the universityhomepage?
a) Online Public AccessCatalogue
b) ElectronicJournals
c) Electronic Books
d) InstitutionalRepository
e) WebPortals
5. From which location do you access digital information resources mostoften?
a) Universitylibrary
b) University computerlab
c) Home

d) Anyother
6. How often do you find the internet connectivity in relation to access of digital
information resources and services in thelibrary?
a) Mostreliable
b) Veryreliable

3
 c) Reliable
d) Uncertain
e) Unreliable
Explain the reason for youranswer
7. What are reasons for using digital information resources and services in thelibrary?
a) Writing classassignments
b) Writing a thesis orproject
c) Writing up a paper forpublication
d) Keeping up with the progress in relevantfield.

Skills and Competence

8. How often do you use the digital information services?
a) Daily
b) Weekly
c) Monthly
d) Occasionally
e) Not atall
9. How often do you approach the librarian about training on the use of digital
information resources andservices?
a) Always
b) Often
c) Sometimes
d) Seldom
e) Never
10. Have you ever been trained on the use of digital information services in yourlibrary?
(a) Yes
(b) No
If the answer is yes, did you find it useful for your information searching?

3
11. Indicate the extent to which the following statements are true about digital
information resources of the library using the scale below 1 – Little Extent, 2 –
Moderate Extent, 3 – Large extent, 4 – Great Extent and 5 - very GreatExtent.

No. Statement 1 2 3 4 5

1. Library users are familiar with the usage of digital

informationservices
2. Library users have expressed lack of training as a major
problem in access and utilization of digital information
services
3. Library user (students) believe, legal issues restrict access to
provision of adequate information (lack of full-text, abstract
and restricted to purchase only
4. Students regularly seek online help from the library staff

12. Indicate the magnitude of the challenges faced when using digital information
services based on the scale: 1 – Little Extent, 2 – Moderate Extent, 3 – Large Extent,
4 – Great Extent and 5 - Very GreatExtent.
No. Statement 1 2 3 4 5

1. Lack of adequate search skills

2. The students have enough computers for access to digital
information resources/services
3. Poor internet networks
4. Lack of appropriate training on access and utilization

13. Please add any other comments or suggestions about the library digital information
services

THANK YOU

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 APPENDIX III: WORK PLAN

Week Stage Description of task Due date Comment

1 1 Topic selection November Done

2 2 Chapter 1 submission December Done

3&4 3 Chapter 2 submission December Done

5 4 Chapter 3 and questionnaire submission January Done

6&7 5 Proposal writing and submission January Done

8 6 Data and information collection

9 7 Data analysis and presentation

10 & 11 8 Writing up data from chapter 1 to 5

12 9 Final draft preparation and submission of

the research project

13 10 Defending the Research project

Source: Author (2024)

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 APPENDIX IV: RESEARCH BUDGET

S/ Expenses Amount (Ksh)

No

1 Lunch, water and sanitation expenses 3500/-

2 Airtime and internet expenses 4600/-

3 Collection and analysis of data 2800/-

4 Presents/Tokens to respondents 4000/-

5 Photocopying 2200/-

6 Binding 1500/-

7 Travelling expenses 5000/-

8 Printing and stationery 4800/-

9 Flash disks 3000/-

10 Emergency expenses 2600/-

Total expenses 34000/-

Source: Author (2024)