Use of Internet Facility among Researchers and Faculty members of Social Science Research Libraries in Karnataka State: A Study

Abstract The Internet facility plays a very significant role in terms of supporting the teaching, learning, research and development activities of faculty members, research scholars, students, policymakers etc. The main aim of the study was to examine the levels of availability and utilization of Internet facility among researchers and faculty members of social science research institutes in Karnataka state. A structured questionnaire was distributed among 255 researchers and faculty members of social science research libraries located in Karnataka state; 183(64.21%) responses were received. The present study demonstrates and elaborates on the various aspects of Internet use, such as frequency of Internet use, purpose of Internet access, since how long the internet is used, most preferred search engines, problems faced while using internet and satisfaction levels. The study findings reveal that most of the respondents use internet on a daily basis and mostly prefer Google search engine and also that most of the respondents use internet for doing research work, sending E-mails and sharing ideas or thoughts with others. However, they face some challenges while using the Internet such as slow access speed, privacy problem, difficulty in retrieving relevant information and unawareness important sites in a specific field etc. Finally, the study concludes by suggesting that, social science research libraries provide better and high-speed Internet facility to researchers and faculty members so as to help them carry on their research activities