E-information sources and their usage in scientific research by academic staff of the Department of Geography, College of Arts, University of Basra

Abstract

e-information resources are considered as a part of the academic research environment. These resources could be accessed through different ways in order to obtain the most recent information. The aim of this research is to determine the e-information resources and their importance to the faculty members in doing their research projects. In this research, we conducted descriptive survey methodology in which questionnaire, which included five categories to cover all the study aspect, was distributed to collect data and information. The responses rate from the research sample was (66.66%). The results revealed that e-information resources were beneficial to the academic staff as most of them use this kind of resources.  However, there was a contrast between the types of e-information resources, for example, scientific websites were the least popular resource due to the difficulty of searching and accessing them. Moreover, the multiplicity of languages ​​on these websites causes confusion in research. The research results also showed that the majority of the academic staff confirmed that they face several difficulties in the usage of these sources in scientific research. These difficulties include financial costs and the need for sufficient knowledge about how to search for sources.             The study suggests several recommendations, including holding training courses for the academic staff to improve their skills of searching in the available e-information sources, increasing awareness of how to use software for viewing and reading, and following up on changes and developments in e-information source technologies.