A case study of undergraduates’ awareness and use of the NTU Library : an assessment of areas for outreach initiatives

This study evaluated the current state of undergraduate awareness and use of library services, resources and facilities, as well as identified suggestions and areas for growth for NTU Library’s outreach. The first two objectives were to investigate the extent to which undergraduates were aware of and used NTU Library services, resources and facilities. The third objective was to understand how to conduct effective outreach to undergraduates on social media platforms. The fourth objective was to determine the education and learning needs of undergraduates so that NTU Library can support them. The study utilized a mixed methods design which included both an online survey questionnaire and face-to-face interviews with selected participants. A stratified sampling method was utilised to obtain a representative sample, where the strata were proportionate to the number of undergraduates enrolled per College. A total of 258 responses were collected for the online survey. There were 10 interview participants and the sessions were voice-recorded and transcribed. The quantitative data was analysed using the SPSS software and qualitative data was coded for thematic analysis. Overall, this study yielded insight into the current level of awareness and use of the NTU Library by undergraduates in order to identify patterns across year of study and College. Additionally, this study gathered suggestions and input from undergraduates to inform effective outreach strategies for the future. Firstly, awareness of library services, resources and facilities does not necessarily translate into use. Instead, other factors such as necessity and convenience also come into play. Therefore, for outreach to be effective, the library must adopt a user-centric approach in outreach. This study also gathered data on the kinds of content that undergraduates would be interested in on social media, as well as features which could be used to better engage them on the platform. Finally, this study also obtained ideas and suggestions from undergraduates on how the NTU Library can contribute to their education and learning needs.Master of Science (Information Studies