Determinants of Students Utilisation of Computer Information Retrieval System in Academic Libraries: Evidence from Ghana

Patrick  Acheampong; Li  Zhiwen; Ruhiya  Abubakar; Henry Asante  Antwi; Michael Owusu  Akomeah

A number of educational institutions and libraries have established computerized information retrieval systems (CIRS) to help students to easily identify resources for their academic pursuit. The study investigates and retests the Unified Theory of Adoption and Use of Technology as a model for explaining technology (UTAUT) use among library users in the University of Ghana (UG). A questionnaire with 31 items based on the UTAUT study of (Venkatesh et al., 2003) and analysed on a 7 point Likert Scale was distributed to students using the Balme Library – University of Ghana. The results reveal that many students judge their ability to use the computer information retrieval system to accomplish the specified task as poor due to non-familiarity with the system. It is noted that a lot of students also doubt the ability of the system to provide the required responses they are looking for. This may be due to misconceptions from previous experiences or information gained from other people who have not been successful in using the information retrieval system. The study recommends that the Library incorporates the basic skills of interacting with the CIRS in its orientation programme to give students an acceptable perception of the CIRS.

Aaltonen, A., and Lanzara, G. F. (2015). "Building Governance Capability in Online Social Production: Insights from Wikipedia," Organization Studies (36:12), pp 1649-1673.
Allen, E. J., and Weber, R. K. (2015). "An Exploration of Indexed and Non-Indexed Open Access Journals: Identifying Metadata Coding Variations," Journal of Web Librarianship (9:2-3), pp 65-84.
Alpi, K. M., Cross, W. M., and Davis, H. M. (2014). "Support When It Counts: Library Roles in Public Access to Federally Funded Research,").
Anas, M., Iqbal, J., and Ahmad, P. (2014.) "Impact of automation on library services in selected management institutes at Aligarh: A survey," The Electronic Library (32:3), pp 296-307.
Bagozzi, R. P. (2007). "The Legacy of the Technology Acceptance Model and a Proposal for a Paradigm Shift," Journal of the association for information systems (8:4), p 3.
Chia, H. P., and Pritchard, A. (2014). "Using a virtual learning community (VLC) to facilitate a cross-national science research collaboration between secondary school students," Computers & Education (79), pp 1-15.
Cole, C. (2011). "A theory of information need for information retrieval that connects information to knowledge," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (62:7), pp 1216-1231.
Curtis, L., Edwards, C., Fraser, K. L., Gudelsky, S., Holmquist, J., Thornton, K., and Sweetser, K. D. (2010). "Adoption of social media for public relations by nonprofit organizations," Public Relations Review (36:1), pp 90-92.
Dabholkar, P. A., and Bagozzi, R. P. (2002). "An attitudinal model of technology-based self-service: moderating effects of consumer traits and situational factors," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (30:3), pp 184-201.
Eckhardt, A., Laumer, S., and Weitzel, T. (2009). "Who influences whom? Analyzing workplace referents' social influence on IT adoption and non-adoption," Journal of Information Technology (24:1), pp 11-24.
Garg, A., Shukla, B., and Kendall, G. (2015). "Barriers to implementation of IT in educational institutions," The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology (32:2), pp 94-108.
Heinrich, H., and Willis, E. (2014). "Automated storage and retrieval system: a time-tested innovation," Library Management (35:6/7), pp 444-453.
Holden, R. J., and Karsh, B.-T. (2010). "The technology acceptance model: its past and its future in health care," Journal of biomedical informatics (43:1), pp 159-172.
Julien, H., and Barker, S. (2009). "How high-school students find and evaluate scientific information: A basis for information literacy skills development," Library & Information Science Research (31:1), pp 12-17.
Lee, Y.-H., Hsieh, Y.-C., and Ma, C.-Y. (2011). "A model of organizational employees’e-learning systems acceptance," Knowledge-based systems (24:3), pp 355-366.
Madhusudhan, M., and Nagabhushanam, V. (2012). "Web-based library services in university libraries in India: an analysis of librarians' perspective," The Electronic Library (30:5), pp 569-588.
Malik, A., and Mahmood, K. (2009). "Web search behavior of university students: A case study at University of the Punjab," Webology (6:2), pp 1-14.
Marimuthu, V., and Paraman, V. (2011). "Analysis of information technology (IT) applications in academic libraries in Kuwait," Library Hi Tech News (28:2), pp 9-15.
Marzocchi, G. L., and Zammit, A. (2006). "Self-scanning technologies in retail: Determinants of adoption," The Service Industries Journal (26:6), pp 651-669.
Moffett, S., and Walker, T. (2015). "Knowledge Management in the Public Sector: UK Case Study Perspectives," in Advances in Knowledge Management, Springer, pp. 67-104.
Nemati Anaraki, L., and Babalhavaeji, F. (2013). "Investigating the awareness and ability of medical students in using electronic resources of the integrated digital library portal of Iran: A comparative study," The Electronic Library (31:1), pp 70-83.
Penn-Edwards, S. (2015). "The use of metaphoric language in introducing video and computer technology in preservice teacher education," The Australian Educational Researcher (42:1), pp 55-67.
Petter, S., DeLone, W., and McLean, E. R. (2013). "Information Systems Success: the quest for the independent variables," Journal of Management Information Systems (29:4), pp 7-62.
Saad, M. S. M., and Zainab, A. N. (2009). "An investigation of information seeking behaviour of Computer Science and Information Technology undergraduates: a qualitative approach," Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science (14:3), pp 15-34.
Saunders, M. N., Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2011). Research methods for business students, 5/e, (Pearson Education India.
Sundaravej, T. (2010). "Empirical validation of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model," Journal of Global Information Technology Management (13:1), pp 5-27.
Suprem, A., Mahalik, N., and Kim, K. (2013). "A review on application of technology systems, standards and interfaces for agriculture and food sector," Computer Standards & Interfaces (35:4), pp 355-364.
Sykes, T. A., Venkatesh, V., and Gosain, S. (2009). "Model of acceptance with peer support: A social network perspective to understand employees' system use," Mis Quarterly), pp 371-393.
Teo, T. 2011. "Factors influencing teachers’ intention to use technology: Model development and test," Computers & Education (57:4), pp 2432-2440.
Togia, A., Korobili, S., Malliari, A., and Nitsos, I. (2014). "Teachers’ views of information literacy practices in secondary education: A qualitative study in the Greek educational setting," Journal of Librarianship and Information Science), p 0961000614532485.
Trkman, P. (2010). "The critical success factors of business process management," International Journal of Information Management (30:2), pp 125-134.
Turban, E., Leidner, D., McLean, E., and Wetherbe, J. (2008). INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR MANAGEMENT, (With CD), (John Wiley & Sons.
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., and Davis, F. D. (2003). "User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view," MIS quarterly), pp 425-478.
Venkatesh, V., Thong, J. Y., and Xu, X. (2012). "Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology," MIS quarterly (36:1), pp 157-178.
Verhoeven, J. C., Heerwegh, D., and De Wit, K. (2010). "Information and communication technologies in the life of university freshmen: An analysis of change," Computers & Education (55:1), pp 53-66.
Zhang, Q., Goodman, M., and Xie, S. (2015). "Integrating Library Instruction into the Course Management System for a First Year Engineering Class: An Evidence-Based Study Measuring the Effectiveness of Blended Learning on Students’ Information Literacy Levels," College & Research Libraries), pp crl15-692.

In-Text Citation: (Acheampong et al., 2016)
To Cite this Article: Acheampong, P., Zhiwen, L., Abubakar, R., Antwi, H. A., & Akomeah, M. O. (2016). Determinants of Students Utilisation of Computer Information Retrieval System in Academic Libraries: Evidence from Ghana. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 5(2), 66–83.

Copyright: © 2016 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development

Open Access Journal

Determinants of Students Utilisation of Computer Information Retrieval System in Academic Libraries: Evidence from Ghana

Patrick Acheampong, Li Zhiwen, Ruhiya Abubakar, Henry Asante Antwi, Michael Owusu Akomeah

Further Information

Our Journals

Get intouch with us