Provision of access to online databases for undergraduates of local private higher education institutions / Teow Poh Lin

Teow, Poh Lin (2002) Provision of access to online databases for undergraduates of local private higher education institutions / Teow Poh Lin. Masters thesis, University of Malaya.

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Abstract

The study investigated the provision of access to online databases for undergraduates of selected local private higher education institutions (PHEIs). The study was carried out in two phases. The first being an investigation on the types of access and usage supporting facilities that the sampled PHE is are providing for their undergraduates. A questionnaire-based survey on 33 PHEIs consisting of 4 local private universities, 4 branch campuses of foreign universities and 25 colleges was conducted. Main findings from the study indicate the different types of access models adopted by the PHEIs are affected by the types of status of the PHEls, their existing collaborations with their foreign programme partners and the utilization of different types of users' access controls, such as user authentication through username and password and computer IP based access controls. The second phase of the study focused on the users• awareness and perception towards the usage of online databases. A total of 451 undergraduates from two selected PHEIs participated in a questionnaire-based survey to determine their awareness and perception on using online databases provided by their respective PHEIs. Main findings indicate that while the majority of respondents are satisfied and placed importance on the usage of online databases, not all are fully aware of the existing types of online databases and the access controls that are provided by their PHEIs. Highly ranked useful features of online database include useful search options and allowable simultaneous multiple searches while inadequate computing and networking line were ranked as usage barriers. The responses suggest the need for continuous promotion of user awareness of available resources, provision of training for user skills and provision of adequate usage supporting facilities such as computing and networking facilities.

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