Use of Library Resources and Services by Postgraduate Students in a Specialized University in Nigeria

The dynamic nature of the library users of today and changing research environment require the library to improve its resources and services for its users’ community. This study investigated the use of library resources and services by Postgraduate (PG) students in a specialized university – Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE) in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with a total population of 438 registered PG students of 2020/2022 academic session comprising PGD, Masters and PhD. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire. The study revealed that majority of PG students visited the library most on monthly and quarterly basis while less percentage visited weekly and daily. The findings also showed that the attraction of the PG students to the library were to: study for examination, consult librarians, follow up lectures, read books, read newspapers/magazine, access offline e-resources and databases among others. The resources used most by the PG students were offline e-journal, e-books, textbooks, reference materials, theses/dissertations and periodicals. Furthermore, there was evidence in the findings that services used most were circulation service, reference service, reprographic service and Internet service among others. Some of the problems hindering their use of the library were: lack of orientation, inadequate awareness, inadequate ICT training, lack of literacy skill and poor internet connectivity. The study concluded that library management in FUPRE and other universities around the world should endeavour to identify all the factors affecting the effective use of the library by the PG students to enable thems have a rewarding research experience