PERCEPTION OF LIBRARY USERS ON VIRTUAL LIBRARY SERVICES FOR UTILIZATION OF MEDICAL INFORMATION RESOURCES IN NATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS AND LEPROSY TRAINING CENTRE (NTBLTC), ZARIA, KADUNA STATE – NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the Perception of Library users on Virtual Library Services for Utilization of Medical Information Resources in National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Training Centre (NTBLTC), Zaria, Kaduna State – Nigeria. The article was guided by 3 research questions focusing on the types of medical information services provided, the technological readiness of the NTBLTC library and the perceptions of the benefits of virtual library services for medical information resources. The study employed a quantitative research methodology using a survey research design. The population comprised 126 registered library users, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The finding revealed that medical information services at the NTBLTC Library shows that circulation and lending services are the most highly utilized. Also, the finding revealed that core services such as current awareness, medical reference, electronic resources, circulation/lending, cataloguing, and document delivery demonstrated strong technological readiness for virtual adoption, other services such as medical translation, interlibrary loan, recreation/leisure, and indexing/abstracting showed weaker readiness and required significant improvement. The finding further reveals that the majority of library users strongly recognized the benefits of virtual library services in enhancing access to medical information at the NTBLTC Library. The study concluded that perception of library users on virtual library services for accessing medical information at NTBLTC, Zaria, is relatively low and inadequate. It was recommended that to enhance library resources usage, the NTBLTC Zaria Library are to conduct regular needs assessments, upgrade underutilized services and establish supportive institutional policies, and collaborate with ICT providers to strengthen internet reliability.