Transforming university students into library users: Influence of user-education programmes on the information and study skills of first-year students in South Africa.

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the influence of user-education programmes on the information and study skills and competencies of first-year students at North–West University, Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC), in South Africa. The study adopted a quantitative approach and employed the case study method. The respondents consisted of 1,885 first-year students across two faculties with a sample size of 320, which were selected using the systematic sampling technique. The self-developed questionnaire was then distributed among the respondents. Out of 320, 266 students responded to the questionnaire, which produced a good response rate of 83%. The collected data were analysed using frequency and percentages and presented in tables and charts. The results revealed that a substantive number of first-year students never attended training on library use, including high school, public, college or any other academic libraries, prior to their arrival at the university. However, after attending the user-education programmes, they became independent users of the library and its resources, which was of great importance to lifelong learning and, thus, increased the usefulness of the library.