Information Access

The study investigated the awareness and usage of open educational resources among Library and Information Science undergraduates in the department of educational management, University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the
research were to find out the level of awareness of LIS undergraduates towards OERs, sources of awareness, types of OERs used by LIS undergraduates, level of usage of OERs among the undergraduates and the problems militating against their usage. In carrying out this study, five research questions were raised. Descriptive survey design was utilized for the study. The population for the study is 289 undergraduates. The total enumeration and accidental sampling techniques were used for this study. The instruments used for this study were a questionnaire with the title “Awareness and Usage of Open Access Resources Questionnaire (AUOARQ)” The data obtained were analyzed, using frequency and percentages. Findings from the study revealed that the LIS undergraduates had high level of awareness of open educational resources, they became aware of OER though self-exploration on the internet, open e-book and open access journals were utilized by the undergraduates. They had high level of usage of open educational resources. Unstable power supply, inadequate ICT facilities, poor Internet connectivity, lack of retrieval skills,
lack of internet search skills and download delay were some of the barriers associated with the use of OERs. Undergraduates’ attendance at such orientation, workshop and seminar should be made mandatory

The study analyzed the Information Needs On Lassa Fever Safety Practices Among Garri Processors And Marketers In Esan West, Esan Central And Esan North East, In Edo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it examined the social economic characteristics of garri processors and marketers in the study area; ascertained respondents awareness of Lassa fever and Lassa fever safety practices; examined respondents access and preferred information sources on Lassa fever safety practices; examined information needs on Lassa fever safety practices; identified the constraints on access to information needs on Lassa fever safety practices. Data was was collected using random sampling method to will be used to select fifty (50) respondents from Esan West, Esan Central, Esan north East L.G.A making a total of one hundred and fifty (150) respondents. Data collected were analyzed by with Logit regression, multiple regression and pearson product moment correlation(PPMC) and Described with descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation for appropriate variables. Findings from this study showed that Majority (82.7 %) were females while (17.3%) 0f the respondents were males. Majority (78 % ) of the respondents were married. The garri processors and marketers mainly had secondary education (48.7%), majority of the respondents had 5-10 years experience in garri processing and marketing. The findings also xi shows that large proportion of garri processors and marketers had household size between 7-9 persons. The major constraints such as High level of illiteracy (mean=3.38) insufficient power supply to charge phones and watch television (mean=3.58), High cost of data (mean=3.13), Non-available information material on Lassa fever (mean=3.6) were the serous constraints affecting the access and use of information on Lassa fever safety practices. The results also shows that Radio (mean=3.57), television (mean=3.62), friends and family (mean=3.28), internet (mean=2.81) and Healthcare providers (mean=2.86) were the preferred information sources for Lassa fever safety practices among garri processors and marketers.