Effectiveness of Library Orientation Programmes on Information Searching Skills of Postgraduate Students: A Case of The Open University of Tanzania

Abstract

The study assessed the effectiveness of library orientation programmes on information searching skills of postgraduate students with reference to the Open University of Tanzania. It employed a descriptive research design; a simple random sampling technique was used to select 150 postgraduate students. A questionnaire was used to collect data and analysed using descriptive statistics techniques through SPSS version 29. The findings indicated that despite the library orientation sessions being conducted to provide students with awareness of library resources and services, their effectiveness in improving information searching skills was inadequate. The majority of respondents reported that they received inadequate training on the use of online databases, referencing and citation and information searching strategies. Additionally, most of the respondents encountered challenges such as limited skills to search for information independently, difficulty in evaluating information sources and poor internet connectivity, short training duration and poor referencing and citation practices. The study concluded that orientation sessions at the Open University of Tanzania are ineffective in developing information literacy skills to postgraduate students. The study therefore recommends integration of information literacy into postgraduate curriculum, enhanced ICT infrastructure and continuous information literacy training to postgraduate students.