Scholarly Electronic Journals: Availability and Use in Universities in Nigeria

Current print journals have become scarce commodity in university libraries of the developing countries serials have become a scarce commodity in university libraries of developing countries. This is because of the high cost of these materials. In Nigeria the situation is worsened by the high exchange rate of the Naira to foreign currencies. Electronic journals have come as a better, cheaper alternative to the print format. Knowledge seekers and information professionals need to be familiar with the use of this novel resource format. This research explored the availability and use of electronic journals (e- journals) in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka amongst academics, including librarians. A structured questionnaire was used to elisit information from respondents. Descriptive statistics was used to present the data for discussion. Findings showed that majority of the sampled population were well aware of the existence of e-journals. 93.13% of the respondents have used them to source information pertaining to their research and studies. Internet-ready computers provided by the university; cybercafés in and around the University and personal laptop computers with wireless access were sources of access. Respondents face varied challenges against smooth access to e-resources. The university library is poised to tackle many of the challenge in order to give their user unrestricted access