Browsing by Author "Aiyebelehin, James A."

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    Survey of the Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Prisoners in Delta State, Nigeria.
    (Information Technology Application Group (ITAG) International, 2018) Ijiekhuamhen, Osaze P.; Aiyebelehin, James A.
    This study investigated the information needs and seeking behaviour of prisoners in Delta State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study and the instrument used to collect data from the respondents was a structured questionnaire, administered with the aid of five research assistants. The population of the study comprises inmates in the five prisons in Delta State already convicted in jail for various offences. The total population of the study is 1,154 inmates in Delta State prisons. The findings of the study revealed that the major information needs of the prisoners in Delta State were information on legal help on how to be set free, information about family members and well-wishers, and health related needs. Respondents in this study indicated they prefer family members and friends, radio/television and prison wardens because they believe they are able to provide the information they need. The findings of this study equally revealed there is presence of library services and resources in all the prisons in Delta State but the library resources and services rendered in the prison are grossly inadequate. From the study, it was established that the factors militating against the accessibility and use of information by the prisoners were restriction of family members and friends from the prisoners, hostile nature of prison workers, and inadequate library materials. The findings of the study clearly imply the lack of preference for information services from prison libraries. This stem from the fact that prisoners have not perceived the prison libraries as capable of meeting their information needs. It is implied therefore, that the librarians in prison libraries should not just strive to equip the libraries, but must put in place strategies to ensure the prisoners utilize the resources to meet their information needs. The originality of this paper is in found in the finding that prison libraries have not served the purpose for which they were established since majority of the prisoners rarely see the libraries as relevant source of information.