The role of electronic information resources in supporting scientific research at Northern Border University

Abstract

This study aimed to realize the impact of Electronic Information Resources on the scientific research movement at the Northern Border University. As it includes Electronic Information Resources provided by the university through the Saudi Digital Library, and many forms of sources such as databases, which include full-text databases, abstracts databases, bibliographic databases, as well as electronic books and electronic periodicals, these resources are characterized by the magnitude of content, continuous modernity, and linguistic diversity, the ability to permanently meet the needs of faculty members. The study sample consisted of 150 faculty members from all disciplines and academic degrees at the university, consistently standard of 137 faculty members from this sample. The study was keen to apply the survey methodology through the main measurement tool (the questionnaire), which consists of 16 main vocabularies that constitute the direction of measurement for the study. The study reached many results, the most important of which is that the high percentage of staff members use teaching Electronic Information Resources significantly, that they can meet teaching and research needs and upgrade academic, as well as there is a broad trend of satisfaction towards the use of full-text databases from other forms of databases. The study showed that the preferred form of access to the types of Electronic Information Resources is through the Saudi Digital Library for free, and there is a tendency of faculty members towards access through the home is larger than the university campus. In general, the study found a high percentage of faculty members ’satisfaction with the use of Electronic Information Resources and the extent of their impact on the flourishing of scientific research. Also, it recommended the necessity of increasing training programs towards using research methods for Electronic Information Resources and intensifying the use of the Internet through the university campus with linking Electronic Information Resources to academic courses.

Comprehensive assessment of drivers and barriers to electronic information resources usage in academic libraries in uganda using SWOT analysis

“…Researchers, teaching staff, and students use EIRs for various purposes, such as academic purposes (i.e., course works, completing assignments, research, compiling teaching and learning materials, preparing seminar presentations, and disseminating and preserving research findings), acquiring development ideas, communicate and collaborate with friends and classmates, improve knowledge, online registration, materials for a writing project, career development, efficient retrieval of information, curriculum design, and recreation. 5,15,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Electronic information resources in academic libraries are essential to researchers, teaching staff, and students because they provide a comprehensive and vast amount of information that users can quickly and cheaply access in electronic forms in its latest form: 5,10,27 it helps users to advance their research work; 28 it is readily available as long the users have access to the network or internet connectivity; 4 flexible in terms of storage and interoperable since they are dynamic resulting into the wide dissemination of information; convenience since a piece of data can be easily searched, 5,6 EIRs can easily and simultaneously be accessed by multiple off-campus users in a short period; 8 EIRs are up-to-date, trustworthy, and appropriate, access a wide variety of information, and the time and location of access are unlimited and unrestricted and saves physical spaces. 6,29 Mollel and Mwantimwa (2019) 13 observed that library EIR usage depends on the relevancy of the content and users' skills to navigate the different electronic resource platforms, search engines, and interfaces.…”

“…Skills for information retrieval and evaluation are essential for the optimal utilisation of EIRs. 10 To effectively use EIRs for teaching, learning and carrying out research in the era of information explosion, one must possess a set of skills for defining the problem at hand, identifying the right source of information, retrieving accurate, relevant, and recently published reports. 41,42 The required skills for utilising EIRs have been elaborated on in many studies and must be tackled to better search, retrieve, evaluate, and use the articles.…”

“…Some of the EIRs are online resources (e.g., e-books, e-journals, e-newspapers, e-databases, epatents, e-standards, e-theses, scientific web resources, Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), e-clippings, eforums, e-magazines, e-newspapers, digital repositories, email publishing, bibliographic databases, search engines, and e-blogs) or offline resources (stored on CD-ROM, DVD, & magnetic tapes). [8][9][10][11] The EIRs are essential resources for contemporary library services that offer a vital supportive role in the conduct of research. 1,12 and improve teaching staff effectiveness and productivity in facilitating teaching and learning.…”

“…13 EIRs are prevalent in contemporary libraries because of their availability anywhere and anytime, ease of amending and update, portability, multiple access to one resource by many users, ease of print and save, searchability, and relatively cheap, especially the openaccess resources. 1,10,14,15 Northern Uganda is one of the historically disadvantaged regions, a semi-rural area with poor electricity connectivity, poor ICT infrastructure, and students and teaching staff from underprivileged backgrounds. 16 It is blessed with three (3) public universities, two (2) private universities and four (4) constituent colleges of other Ugandan universities.…”

Effect of cloud computing on digital content skills and technology acceptance among secondary school students

“…On the other hand, digital content has a role in digitizing information, making the contents smooth and easy to access and process through which learners take a set of procedures to transform the traditional educational content of the digital image over the Internet into content that includes interactive multimedia, including texts, pictures, graphics, shapes, sounds, videos, and animations (Chang, 2008;Al-Sawy, 2021). Digital content allows learners to learn and access information quickly and through a considerable number of them and with high flexibility of time and geographical location.…”