Within the academic landscape, distance education is progressively gaining global attention and recognition, and many institutions are committing resources to make it a success. Global enrollments show a steady increase in distance learning. However, the availability of support services and students’ technological competence are critical to the success of distance education. One of the important support systems for maintaining effective online education is libraries and information services. As a result, this study investigated the acceptance of e-library and support services. The study was led by the UTUAT model and its accompanying theories, such as the innovation diffusion theory and the theory of planned behaviour. The census technique was used to sample 2003 graduate distance students. The data was examined using multivariate structural equation modeling approach. The study found a negative association between strategic and operational skills and students’ intents to use the e-library and support services. However, students’ inclination to use the e-library and support services was found to be strongly predicted by social influence. The study concludes by underlining the necessity for distance education institutions to host courses that increase students’ operational and strategic skills so that they can properly utilise e-library services.
Purpose Ghanaian public universities have fully embraced the concept of open access. This is evident in the increasing numbers of institutional repositories (IRs) by universities in Ghana. However, to ensure the sustainability of these IRs, it is vital the current IR infrastructure is capable of responding to current and future demands. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability of the current IR infrastructure of public universities in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The convergent parallel mixed methods design was adopted. A total of 830 respondents comprising IR managers, library staff (digitisation and e-resources units), postgraduate students, lecturers and university librarians from five public universities in Ghana were sampled for this study. A questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide were the main instruments used for data collection. Findings The findings of this study revealed that the IR infrastructure of public universities in Ghana is robust and has the capacity to expand when the need arises. However, funding, cost of internet connectivity, personnel and erratic power supply were identified as major challenges confronting IRs in Ghana. Originality/value This study highlighted Ghana's existing IR infrastructure situation. This study is a significant contribution to the literature from West Africa because there is not much research on IR infrastructure from this part of the world.
The study investigated transitional challenges among undergraduate (bachelor of education) sandwich students. Adopting the descriptive survey design, a census population of 651 was used. Sanagavarapu, Abraham and Taylor’s (2018) TWHAS was used for data collection. The data was analysed using frequency counts and MANOVA. The study revealed that 59.6% of the students experienced difficulty in balancing family commitments with studies, 77.4% found it difficult to exercise, 61.0% found it difficult meeting up with friends and 73.3% found it difficult balancing financial commitments. Again, 45.2% of the students rarely experienced misunderstanding, while 25.0% were concerned about what others would say about them, 29.2% were concerned about the language barrier, 75.7% were concerned about their inability to explain their problems but 81.9% were not afraid seeking support from colleagues. More so, females experienced transitional challenges more than males. It is recommended for managers of the programmes to counsel students so as to control the effects of the challenges.
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