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The purpose of this paper is to holistically explore the information needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged young first-time mothers and associated issues of complexity.

This paper used survey and semi-structured field interviews with 39 young mothers (aged 15–23) from UK areas of multiple deprivations.

Participants reported multiple and complex needs spanning interrelated topics of parenting, poverty and personal development. In the majority of instances, participants were either unsure of their ability to meet their needs or needed help with needs, and several described situations of considerable anxiety and stress. Multiplicity is identified and conceptualised as an important factor contributing to complexity, including three component elements: simultaneous occurrence of needs (concurrency), relationships between needs (interconnectivity) and evolving needs (fluidity). In various combinations, these elements influenced a mother's actions and/or ability to selectively attend to needs, with multiple needs often competing for attention, and compounding issues of cognitive load and affect.

This study draws attention to multiplicity of needs as an understudied topic within human information behaviour and calls for further research into how people recognise and attend to complex needs and influencing factors.

This study raises important questions regarding how we approach complexity of information needs in our design and delivery of information systems and services.

Evidences disadvantaged young mothers to have more extensive and complex information needs than previously understood, and identifies and conceptualised multiplicity as an important factor contributing to the complexity of information needs during major life transitions such as motherhood.

Undergraduates use electronic library resources for academic activities. However, literature has revealed that undergraduates’ use of electronic library resources is low in Nigeria owing to attitude, computer literacy and information retrieval skills, while little attention was given to computer self-efficacy. This paper aims to examine computer self-efficacy as a predictor of undergraduates’ use of electronic library resources in federal universities in south-west Nigeria.

The descriptive survey research design was adopted. Multi-stage sampling method was used to select 1,526 undergraduates from the population size of 30,516 from six federal universities in south-west Nigeria in four faculties (Arts, Engineering/ Technology, Science and Social sciences) and three departments from each of the faculties (English, History and Philosophy; Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering: Economics, Sociology and Psychology). Data were collected using a questionnaire and were analysed using descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation, Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation, hierarchical and regression analyses at 0.05 level of significance.

There was a significant relationship between computer self-efficacy and use of electronic library resources (r = 0.13, p < 0.05). The result of the analysis showed that computer self-efficacy influenced undergraduates’ use of electronic library resources in federal universities in south-west Nigeria.

The data for the research were obtained from undergraduates in the selected faculties in the six federal universities except for two faculties which did not have some departments that were common to the selected faculties.

The findings indicated that computer self-efficacy improves the use of electronic library resources for academic purposes. It therefore encourages the library management to provide the necessary support and training for the undergraduates to acquire the technical skills required for the acquisition of computer self-efficacy. This has greater influence on undergraduates’ ability to use the computer maximally to access electronic library resources for academic purposes.

It will improve the undergraduates’ use of electronic library resources for academic purposes. This implies that the undergraduates will have access to information around the world that could be useful for development in and around their locality which will become easily accessible. Also, in this era of computer, it will encourage reading culture among undergraduates. This could inform policymakers on the need to provide more electronic library resources for libraries.

The study provides original data on computer self-efficacy as a predictor of undergraduates’ use of electronic library resources in federal universities in south-west Nigeria. This can provide valuable indicator for library managements considering enhanced utilisation of electronic library resources.

A comparative analysis of the characteristics of rejected manuscripts submitted for publication to the African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science and manuscripts accepted for publication over a five year period was carried out. The study reveals that 145 manuscripts were rejected as opposed to eighty papers accepted for publication. The findings reveal that there were no remarkable differences with regards to status and affiliations between the authors of rejected and accepted papers. While information technology, archives, user studies, academic libraries and bibliometrics constituted the topics of papers mostly rejected, papers accepted were mainly in the areas of archives, information service, information technology and rural information. Most of the papers were rejected because they contributed nothing new to knowledge (65.5 per cent), used unreliable data (13.1 per cent) and lacked focus (13.1 per cent). Datedness of references was not used in rejecting papers because the editorial board policy is to update references of papers accepted for publication where necessary. The paper recommends the need for training institutions in Africa to strengthen the research and writing skills component of their curricula, as well as the regular scheduling of research and writing skills workshops by information organisations in the region.

This study seeks to establish and compare the research and publication patterns and output of academic librarians in Eastern Africa from 2000 to 2009 using informetric techniques.

The study confined its scope to publications produced between 2000 and 2009. The informetric technique (through content analysis) was used as a research method. The documents that were sourced for content analysis were obtained from the LISA database, which is one of the largest abstract databases in the field of library and information science (LIS). Data were extracted using the names of the librarians obtained from various sources, including: the libraries' web sites, Europa World of Learning and Wikipedia.

The results reveal that the research visibility of academic librarians was insignificant; that publication of research findings over the period was minimal; that publications from university librarians and directors were also minimal; that most academic librarians preferred publishing individually; and that the most published authors come from Tanzania.

Few informetric studies focus on research output of academic librarians in Africa, and also on LIS research in the continent. Furthermore, the library profession is not well understood by many (including the academic community) because people do not appreciate how qualified librarians are, or that their promotion can be linked to research. This study raises issues that relate to the research output and research visibility of university librarians.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the materials used in Masters' theses of the Agricultural Economics and Extension Department (AEE), FUTA during the period of 2005‐2009 with the aim of improving the existing collection development available for the students.

The study employed descriptive research design. Theses submitted for the award of M.Tech degree between 2005 and 2009 at the department of AEE, FUTA were examined. This was checked against the record of AEE (M.Tech) graduands obtained from the School of Postgraduate Studies. The population of the study was all the theses submitted during the periods under study. Data were extracted from title pages and reference lists. Extracted data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

It was found that journals were more consulted compared to other sources of information materials. AEE M.Tech students do not take much advantage of resources available on the web and internet. It was also revealed that highest citation was recorded in 2006, while 30.52 per cent of materials cited were 20 years old and above. In addition, more than half of the cited materials were contributed by single authors and foreign journals were more cited with 72 per cent than local journals with 28 per cent. Moreover, Journal of Agriculture Economics was found to be the most cited journal followed by Journal of Econometrics.

The paper highlights the information materials available and used by Master students of the Agricultural Economics and Extension Department for their research work and those which need to be added for a healthy collection.

The purpose of this study is to compare the use of electronic resources (e-resources) by undergraduate students in library and information science (LIS) and computer science in two Nigerian universities.

This study adopted a comparative method. The questionnaire was designed to elicit data from 680 undergraduate students in two universities. Simple percentages and chi square (χ²) statistical tool were used to analyse and test the hypotheses. The results are presented in tables and charts.

The findings show that the undergraduate students use some of the e-resources and do not use others probably because of lack of awareness or skills to effectively use the e-resources. Overall, almost half of the undergraduate students rated their skills to use e-resources to be high. It also emerged that there is significant difference between LIS students and computer science students use of e-resources.

The findings of this study on e-resources and their use by different subject areas in the university will establish an important foundation for selecting and providing e-resources and services. Such a foundation allows for the development of both useful theory and practical application.

The study reported findings on e-resources used particularly by different user groups in universities in Nigeria. The study will add to the body of knowledge on use of e-resources in Nigeria.

This study aims to investigate the adherence to cyber ethics by undergraduates in public universities in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria when using electronic information resources (EIRs).

Descriptive survey research design was used for this study. A total of 7,771 undergraduates of University of Uyo (UNIUYO) and Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU), Nigeria constitute the study population. The sampling technique used for the study is the multistage technique. A sampling fraction of 5% was used to arrive at a sample size of 389.

This study revealed that in UNIUYO, more than four-fifths of the undergraduates – 55 (84.6%) in science, 55 (82.1%) in engineering and 61 (81.3%) in education – noted that they used the internet on a daily basis, and in AKSU, almost all the respondents in science (50, 90.9%) and about four-fifths in engineering (45, 80.4%) observed that they also used the internet on a daily basis for academic work. Adherence to cyber ethics guidelines was high at UNIUYO in education (44.2) and science (43.0) and at AKSU in engineering (42.9) and science (44.7).

The use of EIRs in universities has brought enormous changes, especially on how information are accessed and used by undergraduates. As EIRs have become important component in university libraries and continuously used by undergraduates for academic work, there is the possibility that frequent accessibility and utilization could increase the chances of unethical usage. This study is therefore significant in taming the tide of abuse and misuse of e-information resources in universities.

The correlation between adherence to ethics guidelines and the use of EIRs was positively significant at both UNIUYO (r = 0.139*; df = 206; p < 0.05) and AKSU (r = 0.136*; df = 168; p < 0.05). A high level of adherence to cyber ethics by the undergraduates can be encouraged and maintained through the formulation of cyber ethics policy in the universities by academic librarians.

The present research aims to gauge the Information Literacy Skills (ILSs) of the University Library and Information Science Professionals (LISPs) of Pakistan and consider it as a forecaster of improved Research Support Services (RSSs).

The purposive sampling method through a questionnaire was applied and administered (online and offline) to assemble data from LISPs of 219 universities of Pakistan. The questionnaire covered the eight factors of ILSs and four of RSSs.

The regression model illustrates that the predicted variation of ILSs in RSSs is statistically significant. The coefficient of determination (R²) indicates that ILSs predict 70% variance in RSSs. Furthermore, the beta coefficient demonstrates that the input value of “managing findings” toward improved RSSs is moderately high as compared to other factors of ILSs. Therefore, the study concludes that ILSs of LISPs are a prerequisite for their professional growth to improve their RSSs.

The research has discovered the whole levels of ILSs and RSSs of the university LISPs of Pakistan. The study recommends raising the ILSs of LISPs to provide more efficient RSSs.

The main objective of this study is to discuss the needs and the information utilization patterns of periodical literature amongst the pre‐final and final year undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. As a result, the study attempts to solve the following problems: What are the information needs of undergraduate students in relation to periodical literature? How do they go about seeking such information needed in periodical literature? How do they make valuable use of the information available to them in such periodical literature? What should the university libraries do to meet the information needs of these students in relation to periodical literature?

The researcher aimed at studying periodical literature use by the pre‐final and final year undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. It is impossible to sample the entire population hence a cross‐sectional descriptive Survey design was employed as the most suitable because the population under study was fairly large and heterogeneous. A questionnaire was designed to know the attitude, interest and value of the pre‐final and final year undergraduate students. In order to have an accurate assessment, questionnaire was designed and distributed to collect vital information from the undergraduate students. Also, observation and direct oral interviews were also employed to supplement the information provided through the questionnaires collected.

Findings show that 70 per cent respondents used the library once every week, undergraduate students need and utilize periodical literature materials for their information needs, the general purpose of using periodical literature was mainly for research among others.

Useful in determining the periodical use by students as well as assisting serials librarian in planning.

Community pharmacists need good retrieval skills and competencies for effective use of online information resources for professional practice. This study aims to ascertain the internet literacy skills of community pharmacists in Lagos State, Nigeria.

A survey research design was adopted for the study. Convenience sampling technique was used in selecting community pharmacists. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection, whereas descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis.

The study revealed that community pharmacists possess requisite internet literacy skills for effective use of online health information resources. There is a positive relationship between informational and operational internet literacy skills [r = 0.820, p(0.000) < 0.05], informational and strategic internet literacy skills [r = 0.838, p(0.000) < 0.05] and operational and strategic internet literacy skills [r = 0.810, p(0.000) < 0.05]. There is a statistically significant gender difference in the level of skillfulness in internet use based on self-reported skills. There is a significant relative contribution of demographic variables (gender, age, educational qualification and number of years in professional practice) to the level of skillfulness in internet use among community pharmacists.

To improve the use of online internet resources, the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, should conduct training needs assessment regularly to offer the right levels of internet use skills. They must be proactive and incorporate training on computer and internet skills into their annual conferences and zonal meetings. They should also prepare and give internet use manuals to their members to read and understand how to use the internet more effectively. Community pharmacists, especially the female pharmacists, should also take advantage of free online training sessions called webinars to improve their internet literacy skills to cope with rapid changes in the e-environment, as well as to boost the quality of health-care services delivery. Pharmacists’ Council of Nigeria, the agency responsible for regulating and controlling the education, training and practice of pharmacy, should include an internet literacy skills module in the Mandatory Professional Continuing Education Programme.

The study investigated the internet literacy skills of community pharmacists in Lagos State and identified the gender gap in level of skillfulness. This study also explored the relationship between level of skillfulness and internet use, as well as the relationship between community pharmacists’ informational, operational and strategic internet literacy skills.