| dc.description.abstract | The main objective of this research was to explore how YMCA Comprehensive Institute library
can use an electronic noticeboard as a tool for information dissemination. The objectives of the
study included: assessing the students‘ current habits of using the manual notice board at YMCA
Comprehensive Institute Library, identifying the challenges students face in using the manual
notice board at YMCA Comprehensive Institute Library, and examining the ways in which an
electronic notice board can be employed to overcome the challenges students face in using the
manual notice board at YMCA Comprehensive Institute Library. A cross-sectional survey design
was used in this study, and a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data was collected from a
random sample of students and a non-random sample of Librarians using a self-completed
questionnaire and interview guide respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively
using frequencies and percentages, while qualitative data was analyzed thematically.
In terms of the first objective, the findings of the study generally portray an undesirable picture
with regard to the students‘ use of the physical library noticeboard. While most respondents
(66.6%) reported visiting the library noticeboard often, only 26.2% of these visited the library
noticeboard on a daily basis. In terms of the second objective, most respondents (78.1%) were of
the view that visiting the library noticeboard was a challenge to them, and this was mainly
attributed to factors such as user-unfriendliness of the noticeboard (46%), out datedness of the
physical noticeboard as a tool of information dissemination (33%) and inconvenience of the
notice board (21%). In terms of the third objective, an overwhelming majority of respondents
(89.5%) felt that it was necessary for YMCA Institute Library to have an e-noticeboard, and this
was because they are of the view that the e-noticeboard addresses the challenges associated with
the physical noticeboard including user-unfriendliness, out datedness as a tool of information
dissemination, and inconvenience. It was also reported that, in case an e-library noticeboard is
adopted, the most preferred feature it should have is ability to ability to send reminders (86.5%),
followed by ability to send notification alerts (75.7%), provision for interaction (69.4%) and
ability to access archives (54.5%) among others such as ability to post adequate and well-
organized information as well as the tool having security and privacy features which entail user
identifications and passwords.The study concludes and recommends that in order to encourage and attract more students of
YMCA Comprehensive Institute-Kampala Campus to read updates and announcements from the
library noticeboards, a new and creative way of delivering information should be adopted.
Specifically, an e-noticeboard should be adopted with specific enabling factors such as ability to
send reminders, ability to send notification alerts, provision for interaction, ability to access
archives, linkage with other relevant sites, adequate and well-organized information, availability
and reliability of internet and having security and privacy features which entail user
identifications and passwords. | en_US |
