Patterns Of Newspaper Collection Usage: A Case Study Of University Of Jos Library

This research was designed to study the patterns of newspaper usage in University of Jos Library. The status of the newspaper users; their purpose(s) for consulting the newspapers; frequency of the newspaper use; preferred newspaper edition; level of newspaper satisfaction; and challenges they faced in newspaper usage in the library were elucidated. The study covered 140 newspaper readers in University of Jos library. The survey method was used for the study. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze data. The findings revealed that the majority of the newspaper readers in the library were students who came to consult the library newspapers for current events in the country. The findings further revealed that most of the newspaper readers visited the library at least thrice a week and they mostly preferred reading the new editions of the newspapers. However, they complained among others that poor preservation of the old editions of the newspapers; unavailability of new editions of the newspapers; and need for more newspaper titles, were some of the major challenges they faced in the newspaper usage in the library. Recommendations were made on how to improve the situation. Keywords: Newspaper Collection, Patterns of Use, University of Jos Library.The Information Technologist Vol. 5 (2) 2008: pp. 126-13