The Use Of Online Library By University Students During Covid-19 For Academic Gratification

Abstract

Libraries as media play a vital role in justifying the desires of users. The more online libraries meet the users’ wants, the better gratified they are. To identify university students’ needs and extent of gratification from the use of an online library during COVID-19, the need for this study. The study adopted the uses and gratification approach as the theoretical foundation to improve the use of online libraries by university students. We argue that for an online library to be effectively used to attain gratification, there is a need for university students to have trust in its use. The study concluded that an accessible online library will motivate university students to use it, thereby setting a standard for gratification pursued (GP). The use will lead to gratification attainment (GA), while gratification attainment will motivate continuous use of the online library. For university students to be gratified with the use of an online library, the services must be available and accessible. For an online library to be available and accessible for university students' use, the following, among others, are recommended: awareness of online library use should be created; strategies to market the use of an online library should be adopted.