Availability of ICT Facilities and Utilization for Research Output in Ghanaian Academic Libraries: The Case of University for Development Studies Library Systems.

The dynamic nature of information use has called for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in entirely every field of the human venture, and information services and academic libraries are not an exception. The adoption of ICT based services has provided the platform where universities can source and access information easily. Though some studies on ICT availability and utilization have been conducted in the developed world, few studies on ICT services availability and utilization exist in Ghana, especially in the University for Development Studies (UDS). Underpinned by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the study employed mixed research design to gather data from 300 library users, librarians, and library officers in the UDS. The findings revealed that four major ICT services (Wi-Fi, internet technology, digital library resources, and online public access catalog) are available across the five campuses' libraries of the University for Development Studies, Ghana. The findings also revealed that less available facilities/services in the UDS libraries are the E-mail facilities and the CD-ROM technology facilities while laptops and iPads were non-available for library users to independently search for information in the absence of their personal laptops. Despite the perceived availability of library facilities and services, the usage of library services and facilities among library users in the UDS is generally modest. The increasing availability of ICT facilities and services has facilitated communication between libraries and among library users. As recommendations, the provision of ICTs facilities and services in university libraries must be accompanied by in-services training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]