A Survey of Reading and Internet Use Habits among Undergraduate Students in Selected University Libraries in Nigeria

This study investigates the reading and internet use habits among undergraduate students in university libraries; using Obafemi Awolowo University and University of Ibadan as case study. Survey design was adopted and the population consisted of undergraduate students of the U.I and OAU. The multistage random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 214 and questionnaire was the major instrument for data collection. Frequency distribution percentage and cross tabulation method were used in analyzing the data. The findings revealed that respondents from both university libraries 50(25.4%) and 55 (27.9%) read text. It was also indicated that the respondents read for academic purposes and research purposes and used the Internet for examination purposes and project work. The result also stated that most of the respondents in OAU read newspapers 60(30.3%) while 38(19.2%) of respondents read story book in U.I. Majority 80(40.6%) read for three hours in a day in U.I and 30(15.2%) in OAU. It was noted that all the respondents in both university libraries were of the opinion that some of the problems affecting their reading habit include: lack of awareness of information, lack of good illumination, sitting arrangement and inadequate information resources. There is need to continually educate students on the proper balance that they should maintain between utilitarian and other purposes of reading and between reading and internet use activities for academic related purpose. The problem of inadequate computing and internet access facilities in university libraries should also be tackled so as to facilitate effective reading and internet use by students. Keywords: Reading, Internet use habit, undergraduate student