AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF ELECTRONIC INFORMATION DATABASES FOR RESEARCH BY AGRICULTURAL SCIENTISTS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

The study was undertaken to determine the Availability and Utilization of Electronic Information Database for Research by Agricultural Scientists in federal universities in North Central, Nigeria. The instruments used were questionnaire and documentary records. Data were analysed using frequency distribution tables; percentage, mean and standard deviations. The population of this study was 415 scientifically distributed among the schools and faculties of Agriculture of the various universities covered by this study. Survey method was used for the study. Stratified sampling method was used to select 195 respondents to accommodate the different strata of the subjects involved in the study. The copies of the questionnaire that were returned were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed that all the agricultural scientists in various universities subscribe to various online databases. The study also recorded that a high percentage of the respondents use electronic databases frequently and the utilisation of electronic databases was for research work, to update knowledge in their field of interest and current awareness. On availability of electronic databases the study found that 146 (74%) respondents agreed that electronic information was most usefulness for the improvement in the quantity and quality of publication of field research, as well as eliminating the problems of geographical location in the transfer of information. The study revealed a high level of satisfaction with the provision of electronic information services in the area. The study recommended that greater publicity should be given to the many and varied sources of research information available, so that more researchers would become aware and make use of the resource