Internet use among faculty members of universities in Ghana

Abstract

Lack of access to current materials in libraries of universities in developing countries is a major problem that hinders research and teaching. Interlibrary loans and document delivery projects have not solved this problem by themselves. The Internet makes it possible for users to have access to large volumes of information irrespective of their geographical location. The three older universities in Ghana are all linked to the Internet. The assumption then is that their faculty now have access to current information through the Internet. Research results show that in spite of the benefits of the Internet, its use among faculty is still very low. The main reasons for this are lack of access to the Internet and the need for training. Clearly, university authorities need to take immediate steps to provide general access points for faculty through computer laboratories. Again, the expertise of librarians, information professionals and computer scientists needs to be tapped to provide training and refresher sessions for faculty to keep up to date on harnessing the immense potential of the Internet as a source of information for teaching and research.