UTILIZATION OF SEARCH SKILLS FOR RETRIEVAL OF ONLINE INFORMATION RESOURCES AMONG ARABIC ACADEMICS OF FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ZARIA
UTILIZATION OF SEARCH SKILLS FOR RETRIEVAL OF ONLINE INFORMATION RESOURCES AMONG ARABIC ACADEMICS OF FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ZARIA
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Date
2023-11
Authors
SAIDU, Ibrahim
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Abstract
This study investigates "Utilization of Search Skills for Retrieval of online information Resources
among Arabic Academics of the Federal College of Education, Zaria." In order to achieve this
objective, five (5) research questions were formulated, among which are: What types of search
skills are possessed by Arabic academics for retrieval of online information resources in FCE
Zaria? What types of information search strategies are used for retrieval of online information
resources among Arabic academics in FCE Zaria? A quantitative research method was adopted,
and a case study research design was employed in the conduct of this study. The population of
this study consists of twenty-nine (29) academics in the Department of Arabic at the Federal
College of Education, Zaria. 2019/2020 academic session. The instrument for data collection
was questionnaire. A total of twenty-nine (29) copies of the questionnaire were administered to
Arabic academics at the Federal College of Education, Zaria, with a total return rate of 28
(96.6%). The data collected for the study were presented and analyzed using descriptive
statistics in the form of frequency count, simple percentage, and mean. The findings arising from
the studies indicated that the types of information search skills possessed by Arabic academics in
Federal College of Education Zaria were the ability to think before searching, the ability to
search a specific site, the ability to search by author, the ability to search by keyword, and the
ability to keep it simple. The types of information search strategies used for retrieval of online
information resources by Arabic academics in Federal College of Education Zaria were the use
of search engine, the use of file search, and the use of phrase searching. Based on the findings of
this study, it could be concluded that the majority of Arabic academics in FCE Zaria were not
accessing and utilizing available information resources due to lack of information search skills
and search strategies. This could be necessitated due to the lack of information literacy skills
and problems associated with the current trend in ICT. Therefore, the study recommended that
there is a need for training on how to access and make use of the available resources with
different search skills and search strategies. In order to compete in the 21st century library
market, the college should adopt global best practices and immediately create the college library
website. This will enhance the college's teaching and research operations. The Federal College
of Education Zaria College library should take a leading role in creating more training
programs among Arabic academics on information search skills such as ability to narrow
search, ability to use punctuation, ability to apply filters, ability to search by subject, ability to
search by standard number, and ability to search by title. And the college library should
organize workshops for Arabic academics on how to effectively search information resources
with different types of information search strategies such as the use of Boolean operators,
truncation, proximity search, parenthesis, and wildcard.
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA.
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER
DEGREE IN LIBRARY SCIENCE (MLS) DEPARTMET OF LIBRARY AND
INFORMATION SCIENCE FACULTY OF EDUCATION
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,
ZARIA, NIGERIA.