A user education manual for Kampala University Library

Abstract

The study was carried out to design a user education manual for Kampala University. Its objectives were; to examine the current status of user education services in Kampala University Library, to establish the methods used in provision of user education services, to find out the purpose of user education, to identify the challenges at Kampala University Library in providing of user education services and to propose a best user education manual for Kampala University Library. A case study design was adopted and three data collection methods were used which included questionnaires, interview and observation method. The study population was 250 from which a sample of 152 respondents was determined and included 2 librarians, 15 lecturers and 135 students though out of these 152 only 140 respondents filled the questionnaires and answered the interview questions. Findings revealed that much as the Kampala University Library is equipped with abundant information materials and services, they are not fully utilized by users and this due to lack of a clear formulated user education manual. The findings also showed that the current status and management of user education in Kampala University is poor. The challenges that face user education in Kampala University are limited funds and support from the top administrators of the University. It was revealed that the Kampala University is equipped with adequate information materials and services but underutilized. It was also deduced from the findings that a good number of Students rarely use the library due to the fact that they lack enough awareness about the available information materials and services in the library. They also lack the needed skills for searching and retrieving of information materials required to meet their needs. The study recommended that Kampala University should ensure that the library gets clear formulated user education manual. Also considering the importance of user education to the use of library, it is recommended that user education should be given more priority in the University library in order to sensitize more students and draw their attention to the available resources and services that can be of immense benefit to them in the course of their studies.