ABSTRACT
The study assessed the use of online resources by agricultural science lecturers of tertiary institutions in Benue State, Nigeria. A total of 193 lecturers, randomly sampled from a population of 775 from six tertiary institutions of learning, including, two universities, two colleges of education and one college of agriculture were used for the study. The survey method, employing a structured questionnaire, was adopted in carrying out the research. Six study questions and two hypotheses were used to guide the study. Statistical analysis was carried out through the use of frequency distributions, percentages, mean scores and standard deviations, regression analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Findings indicated that a large proportion of the respondents were in the age bracket of 46 and 55 years with a mean age was 42 years. Majority of the respondents were men. Majority of respondents had a household size of between 6 and 10 members, with a mean household size of 6 members. A large proportion of respondents possessed first degree or its equivalent; those with PhD made up 9.3% of the respondents. The majority of respondents were those that had work experience of about 10 years. Majority of respondents spent between 10 to 20 years on formal education, with average of 20 years being spent on formal education. Majority of the respondents earned between N101, 000 - 200,000 per month, with an average income of N181, 413.37. The results, also, showed that majority of respondents possessed general computer skills, with appreciable levels of skillfulness. In the area of general internet and online usage skills, majority of respondents possessed the requisite skills, with the majority of them also possessing appreciable levels of skillfulness. Majority of respondents had access to the internet on a daily basis and the majority of such respondents used the internet for academic research purposes. The basic type of connectivity to the internet available to most respondents was through the use of private cyber cafes. The main types of online resources used included electronic journals, electronic books, search engines and encyclopedia. Online resources that respondents frequently used included electronic journals, search engines, encyclopedia, abstracts, dictionaries and video/picture or graphic files. The online resources that were perceived to be useful to respondents included search engines, electronic journals and encyclopedia. Socio-economic and institutional factors that significantly influenced the use of online resources included age and number of years spent on formal education. Perceived constraints against access and use of online resources included, among others, unstable power supply, high cost of access and usage of online resources, nonsubscription for relevant online resources by institutions, slow connection to the internet, and lack of sponsored training from institutions. It was recommended that tertiary institutions should subscribe for such online resources as AGORA, OARE and HINARI, for the benefit of their lecturers and that staff training and re-training should be built into staff development programs; institutions should provide internet services that are effective and efficient. This will enhance better and effective connectivity in the search, access and use of online resources; lecturers should upgrade themselves, through involvement in personal training programs that will enhance their computer, internet and online usage skills, in order to be able to locate, access and make more effective use of online resources.