Abstract
The study investigated the optimal utilization of library electronic databases for research productivity among postgraduate students in Federal universities in South-South, Nigeria. Four specific objectives covered the study; the total population of this study consists of 9536 postgraduate students in 238 departments in 36 faculties in the 2020/2021 academic year in the six federal university in south-south, geopolitical zone in Nigeria. The sample for this study is 480 postgraduate students. The instrument used for data collection is structured questionnaire and observation checklist. Data was analyzed with the use of mean and standard deviation for answering the research questions. The findings showed that out of nineteen (19) electronic databases listed in the study, an aggregate of fifteen (15) were available while four are not available. The major ones include: JSTOR, AC Digital, ERIC, EconLit, Google scholar, proquest, EBSCohost, project MUSE, Pub, Med, Scopus, Postgraduate students to a very large extent possesses competencies in world processing, information retrieval, online research ethics, data analysis and computer literacy. It also showed that the challenges postgraduate students face in the use of electronic databases in federal universities in south-south, Nigeria include; apathy towards information technologies, phobia for information technology operation, poor computer literacy education, erratic power supply, unavailability of a particular database. The study also revealed that strategies for enhancing optimal utilization of library electronic databases for research productivity among postgraduate students include: Provision of adequate finance , Sensitization programs, Subscription to relevant databases , Current awareness services (CAS), Proper orientation programs, Provision of stable network connectivity. It was recommended among other that training and retraining should be regularly conducted to ensure postgraduate students are proficient in using library electronic databases.
Keyword: optimization, electronic database, research productivity and postgraduate students
Publication Date: 2025-08-03