PERCEIVED EFFECT OF AWARENESS AND USE OF OPEN ACCESS JOURNALS BY LIBRARY USERS FOR RESEARCH EFFICIENCY IN MARGARET LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceived effect of awareness and use of open access journals by library users on research efficiency at Margaret Lawrence University. Three hundred and twenty-nine library (329) users were selected for the study. A specifically designed questionnaire was administered to gather information about the awareness and use of open access journals by library users for research efficiency at Margaret Lawrence University. The collected data were analyzed using the mean () and standard deviation (SD) to answer research questions. The results revealed that library users at MLU are much aware of open access journals and, to a high extent, use open access journals. The study also revealed that MLU library users face a lot of challenges in using open-access journals to promote their research efficiency. It was then recommended that there is a need to accept and acclimate to the changing model of scholarly communication with particular reference to open access journals, and university management should support library users by developing an intrinsic drive for knowledge creation and publishing research output through internet subscriptions for use of open access journals. Keywords: Awareness, Use, Open, Access, Databases, Library, Perceived effect, University, Margaret Lawrence, Delta, Nigeria, Electronic

本研究旨在探究玛格丽特·劳伦斯大学（Margaret Lawrence University）图书馆用户对开放获取期刊（Open Access Journals）的知晓与使用情况对其研究效率的感知影响。本研究共选取329名图书馆用户作为研究对象。研究采用专门设计的调查问卷，收集玛格丽特·劳伦斯大学图书馆用户关于知晓并使用开放获取期刊以提升研究效率的相关信息。所收集的数据采用均值（mean）与标准差（SD）进行分析，以解答研究问题。研究结果显示，MLU图书馆用户对开放获取期刊的知晓度较高，且在较大程度上会使用该类期刊。本研究同时发现，MLU图书馆用户在利用开放获取期刊提升研究效率的过程中面临诸多挑战。据此，研究提出如下建议：学界应接纳并适应不断变革的学术交流模式，尤其需聚焦开放获取期刊领域；大学管理部门应通过互联网订阅服务支持图书馆用户使用开放获取期刊，同时培养用户开展知识创作与研究成果发布的内在动力。关键词：知晓度、使用情况、开放获取、数据库、图书馆、感知影响、大学、玛格丽特·劳伦斯、德尔塔州、尼日利亚、电子资源。