International Journal of Library and Information Studies

Vol.9(4) Oct-Dec, 2019 ISSN: 2231-4911

Use and Impact of Electronic Resources At King Abdulaziz University,

Jeddah,Saudi Arabia

Dr. Jumaan Abdulqader Alzahrani

Department of Information Science
College of Computer Science and information systems
Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia
e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract - Currently accessibility of electronic resources in a University library is very

popular. However, their suitable and extreme use is an issue for argumentation. The
current study discuss the subsistence of diverse electronic resources and services are
available in king Abdulaziz University library at Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. The study
also highlights different types of electronic resources used by students, the frequency
and purposes of using electronic resources and the barriers faced by the students when
using the electronic resources in the library.

Keywords: electronic resources, Private faculty Library, library

Introduction

Improvements in computer sciences during the few years go have transported big changes in
the way information collected, save, organized, available, retrieved and used. The
programming of computers in information processing has brought many products and
services to the field. The internet is always influencing the growth of new methods of
scholarly communication; their possibility for transfer needs is quite visible, as they
overcome the geographical barriers associated with the paper media. Moreover, the delivery
time between product publication and its distribution been reduced. The Internet can be used
for effective retrieval and meeting information needs. This is very significant for University
libraries since many of them ask for more research work. This important fact is persuasive
many libraries to shift towards electronic resources, which are establish to be Cheap and
more valuable for simple access. This is particularly useful to distant learners who have ,
restricted time to access the University libraries from outside the campus by internet access to
usually available electronic resources, fundamentally OPACs, CDs, Flash memory and
internet, which are replacing the paper media. Libraries have witnessed major transformation
in last years in their service structure and their collection development. Over the last years, a
noticeable metamorphosis been observed in collection development policies and practices.
Paper medium is progressively giving way to the materials in electronic form (Singh, 2016).

Objectives of the study:

Some of the main objectives of this research are as follows:

1. Realize the various types of electronic resources and services are available in King
Abdulaziz University central library.
2. Investigate the different types of electronic resources used by students.
3. Study the frequency and purpose of using electronic resources and services available
in the central library.
4. Study the effect of electronic resources and services on the students.

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5. To know the response regarding traditional materials can be replaced by electronic

materials or not.
6. Determine the barriers that faced by the students while accessing and using the
electronic resources in the central library.

LiteratureReview:

Some of related studies have done on the use of electronic resources by students, teachers and
researchers of universities and research institution.(78%) of the respondents told that the use
of the University Grants Commission Information network, electronic journals has formed
high dependency amount on their research work and they ask for current article notice
services and electronic document equipment services(Singsona & Hangsing, 2015).(67.64%)
of research scholars of faculty of science and 69.23% of research scholars of (67.64%) of
researchers in faculty of science and (69.23%) of researchers of engineering use electronic
journals for research activities while (35.29%) of sciences use electronic journals to find new
knowledge and (23.70%) of engineering use these for study (Lewis, Use and Impact of
AICTE Electronic Resources and DELNET in the Engineering College Libraries of Dakshina
Kannada and Udupi Districts:A Comparative Study, 2016). Ease of accessibility and the
prompt of availability of information cause the users to use electronic resources much
more(Chohda, 2015).(49%)of respondents are satisfied with online services provided by the
library. The survey indicates that the use of electronic resources in Jamia Milia Islamia is not
satisfying and needs more guidance to increase their usage (Singh, 2016). Electronic journals
are turn into an essential need for the daily academic researchers. Navjyoti finds that fast
publication and availability on the personal computer are the usefulness that attract
researchers(Newmon & Sengar, 2016) . The shortage of training is a main barrier factor in
the usage of electronic journals, so that necessarily to enhanced. Kennedy suggested the
containment of Web pages to the library catalogue as a solution to the maintenance of
growing web site links(Siddiqui, 2018).

Kaur reports that electronic resources can be good substitutes for traditional resources if the
access speed is quick, access to the electronic journals provided and more computer terminals
combined to provide access to electronic resources (Viswanatha & Sasireka, 2016). Renwick
advice there be more promotion of the library’s electronic resources (Ankrah & Atuase,
2018).Kaur and Verma find that users use the obtainable resources regularly, like online
databases, CD ROMs and multimedia(Singh & Sharma, 2018). Shmara reports that
availability of electronic resources in a faculty library is very widespread. However, their
suitable and highly use is an issue for investigation. The current study evaluate the existence
of different electronic resource in Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Library.The
research highlights the priority and significance of online resources among the academic staff
and researchers (Tella, et al., 2018).

Briefhistory about king Abdulaziz University(Anon., 2019):

In the year 1967, King Abdulaziz University officially established as a private university in
the city of Jeddah in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The university started its first
academic year in 1968, with a small number of students. In 1969, the Faculty of economics
and administration established as the first faculty and next year the Faculty of Arts and
Humanities was established. In 1974, the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia decided to
merge the university with the government; converting it to a public university. King
Abdulaziz University has further witnessed tremendous quantitative and qualitative progress

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in terms of enrollment and diversity of academic programs. It is now recognized as a world-

class University due to its international outreach and collaboration in research, innovation,
accreditations and rankings. It does this while continuing to maintain its traditional
commitment to delivering outstanding education and community service. As of 2017, it had
almost 31,000 students, of which 28% are international, and is considered to be one of the
best universities in the Arab world. In 2018, Times higher education ranked it the first Arab
University due to very strong citation impact and highly international outlook. It also ranked
number one in percentage of total publications with international collaboration, according to
US news rankings.

ResearchMethodology:

Current study was restricted to the students of King Abdulaziz University, at Jeddah in Saudi
Arabia. A questionnaire survey conducted to gather the information regarding the use of
electronic resources, frequency of use of electronic resources, purpose of using electronic
resources, problems faced by the users while using electronic resources. Two hundred
questionnaires distributed to collect the primary data out of which 113 questionnaires
founded usable for analysis. The questionnaires completed by personal visits with users.
Questionnaires distributed randomly to the users. The collected data analyzed and presented
in the tabular form as flow.

ResultsandDiscussions:

Table 1 and figure 1 below shows that the majority of the students 27.43% prefer to use
electronic thesis. Second highest preference is electronic books and use of electronic
newspapers with more than 15.05%. Figure 1 also show that only students, the rest of the
electronic resources for example electronic magazines, preferably use the well-known
electronic resources; electronic journals are comparatively less used.

Table-1 use of various electronic resources

Electronic resources Frequency %
Electronic journals 8 7.08%
Electronic books 17 15.05%
Electronic magazine 13 11.50%
Electronic thesis 31 27.43%
WWW 9 7.96%
Electronic newspaper 17 15.05%
Others 18 15.93%
Total 113 100%

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Figure- 1use of various electronic resources

35 31
30
25
Frequency

20 17
15 13
10 8
5
0
Electronic journals Electronic books Electronic magazine Electronic thesis

Electronic resources

The table 2 highlights that majority of the students;for example, more than 45.14%respond
that the interface of the library website is userfriendly while 29.20% students think that the
interface of the library website is not userfriendly.

Table-2 User-Friendly Interface to the Library Website

User Friendly Interfaceto the Library Website Frequency %
Yes 51 45.14%
No 33 29.20%
No comments 29 25.66%
Total 113 100%

Figure-2 User-Friendly Interface to the Library Website

60
51
50

40
Frequency

33
29
30

20

10

0
Yes No No comments

User Friendly Interface to the Library Website

Table 3below shows that 43.36% of respondents have taken the training regarding the access
to electronic resources,while more than 56% didn’t get any training regarding the access to
electronic resources.
Table-3 Training Taken Related to Electronic Resources
Training token Frequency %
Yes 49 43.36%
No 64 56.64%
Total 113 100%

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Table 4 reveals that more than half of respondent (56.64%) respondents use electronic
resources when necessary. 21.24% respondents use the electronic resources very often,
whereas 11.50% respondents use electronic resources rarely.
Table-4 Frequency of Using Electronic resources
Using Electronic resources Frequency %
Very often 24 21.24%
Occasionally 13 11.50%
When necessary 64 56.64%
Never 12 10.62%
Total 113 100%

Table5 shows that more than 57% respondents use different databases when necessary,
28.32% occasionally and rest of them (14.16%) use of different databases very often.

Table-5 Frequency of Use of Different Databases

Use of Different Databases Frequency %
Very often 16 14.16%
Occasionally 32 28.32%
When necessary 65 57.52%
Total 113 100%

Table 6 elaborates that majority of the students use electronic resources in research and
education purpose, so more than (38%) for research purpose, (38.05%) for education purpose
and more than 13% for communication purpose and rest of the respondents (12) used
electronic resources for entertainment purpose.

Table-6 Purpose for Using Electronic resources

Purpose for Using Electronic resources Frequency %
Research 43 38.05%
Entertainment 12 10.63%
Education 43 38.05%
Communication 15 13.27%
Total 113 100%

Table7 reveals that most of respondents (46%), think that electronic resources never reduce
the use of traditional resources, whereas (30.09%) respondents feel that electronic resources
may replace traditional sources of information.

Table-7 Do electronic materials can replace traditional materials?

Electronic resourcescan replace traditional materials Frequency %
Yes 34 30.09%
No 52 46.02%
No comments 27 23.89%
Total 113 100%

It can inferred, from table 8 that accessing electronic resources is not free from problems. The
problems encountered while using the electronic resources mainly come from four factors:
break down of the system, high cost of surfing time, Problems of power outage when using
computer, slow server. More than 50% of the respondents stated the problem of slow server

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to access, electronic resources, which takes a lot of their slot time to retrieve the relevant
information, whereas 21.24% reported that they faced the high cost of surfing time. More
than 15.93% of the respondents found Problems of power outage when using computer.

Table-8 Problems faced by students in accessing electronic resources

Problems faced by students in accessing Electronic resources Frequency %
Break down of the system 14 12.39%
High cost of surfing time 24 21.24%
Problems of power outage when using computer 18 15.93%
Slow server 57 50.44%
Total 113 100%

Conclusion:

Study shows that the use of electronic resources is very popular among the University and
most of the students are dependent on electronic materials to get the relevant information.
However, actual use of electronic materials is not up-to the worth in comparison to
investments made in earning these materials; secondly, infrastructure and training plans
should also revised as per requirements. Itis observed that the availability of electronic
resources on the library is almost sufficient for all the existing disciplines but the
infrastructure to use these resources is not sufficient and can prevent the ability to meet the
requirements of users.

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