Influence of digital literacy on the utilization of digital library resources among library and information science students in University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

This study sought to examine the influence of digital literacy on the utilization of digital library resources among library and information science students in University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted for this study. The study adopted census enumeration technique. Thus, the entire population of 124 (19 year three and 105 year four final year) students of the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Port Harcourt were used as population and sample for this study. The reliability of the data collection instrument entitled: “Digital Library and Utilization Questionnaire (DLUQ)” which was used for the study was determined using Cronbach’s alpha which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.9. Data Collected were analyzed using mean, and standard deviation. The findings revealed that students who possessed digital literacy skills reported improved academic outcomes; that students’ awareness of the university’s digital library and its available resources is inconsistent, and challenges which include poor internet access, high data costs, and a lack of training or technical support are major obstacles to the successful use of the digital library. The study concluded that digital literacy plays a significant role in shaping how students access and benefit from digital library resources. Hence, it was recommended, amongst others, that universities should integrate digital literacy into the university curriculum, provides hands-on training on information retrieval skills, and in-library support.