A Study on the Usage of Library Versus Internet as Sources of Information by Undergraduate Students of University Kelaniya: with Special Reference to Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and Commerce & Management Studies

Abstract

The library of the University of Kelaniya plays a significant role to support learning, teaching and research activities of the academic community by providing print and e-resources. As at July, 2016 the library of the University of Kelaniya comprised of 250301 printed books, 2157 CD-ROMs, 1203 theses and 800 non-book materials. In addition, the library has subscribed to 60 local journals and access to provide over 12,500 full text academic journals and 100,000 ebooks. At present library usage patterns and information seeking behaviors of undergraduates have been change due to the introduction of Wifi facilities for students and changes of the courses modules, curriculums and teaching methods of the university education system. Both academic staff and students have adopted and continue to use the online information retrieval for their academic and research work. This study aims to compare the usage of library and the Internet to find information sources in the faculties of Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and Commerce & Management in the University of Kelaniya. This research attempts to determine the factors of enthusiasm and the disinterest of students on using library and Internet. All the undergraduate students in the University which is 8440 (as at August 2016) were taken as the study population and 368 students were selected as the sample by using Krejcie and Morgan method. The quantitative data were analyzed by using Descriptive Statistical Method. Findings, of the study indicated that undergraduate students of all the selected faculties use both the library and the Internet to fulfill their information needs. The students of faculty of Science and faculty of Commerce & Management selected Internet as the most preferred source of information.