Factors affecting undergraduates’ selection of online library resources in academic tasks: Usefulness, ease-of-use, resource quality, and individual differences

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore multiple factors affecting online library resource selection by undergraduate students. Three dimensions of factors are investigated including usefulness and ease-of-use, resource quality, and individual differences.

Design/methodology/approach

An instrument was developed to measure various aspect factors and online library resource use intention. A survey was administered to 332 undergraduate students. Quantitative analysis, including structural equation modeling, ANOVA, and t-tests, was used to statistically examine the effects of the identified 11 factors on the use intention of online library resources.

Findings

The findings indicated that both usefulness and ease-of-use positively influenced the undergraduates’ use intention of online library resources. Also, five resource quality constructs – accessibility, credibility, coverage, currency, and format – were the determinants of online library resources use intention. Interestingly, the effect of accessibility was the strongest, while that of credibility was the weakest. In addition, this study found that familiarity with sources and use of good search skills had a significant effect on users’ use intention at the individual user level.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few studies investigating multiple factors comprehensively that influence online library resource selection.

Citation

Joo, S. and Choi, N. (2015), "Factors affecting undergraduates’ selection of online library resources in academic tasks: Usefulness, ease-of-use, resource quality, and individual differences", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 272-291. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-01-2015-0008