Abstract:
In the global movement towards the knowledge community, e-Journals and databases
have become a prominent medium for teaching, learning, and research. In Sri Lankan
context e-Journals and databases have an emerging trend in the current digital era. The
nation has been massively investing in the growth of electronic-based education products
for the betterment of the country education. Particularly, adoption and usage of
electronic-based digital resources have several challenges such as accessibility, reliability,
copyright, etc. This paper focused on the postgraduates’ student’s awareness and attitude
towards the use of e-Journals and Databases available in the Library, Sabaragamuwa
University of Sri Lanka (SUSL). The survey method was adopted with registered users of
the Faculty of Graduates Studies between the 2017-2019 period numbering 334 formed
the population of the study where the sample size was 181. Data were collected through
an online questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. The study used diffusion of innovation
(DOI) theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to measure the awareness and
attitude level of postgraduate students towards the use of e-Journals and Databases. The
findings suggested that the students have a high level of awareness about e-Journals and
Databases. However, there was a different attitude among the students. Also, the results
indicated that the students have not regularly accessed e-Journal and databases for their
research work because the majority of them did not aware of how can they access
remotely [off-Campus]. The study concluded with a suggestion that the library should
provide appropriate awareness programs and training to students about the benefits of
using e-Journals and databases and should encourage them to access e-Journals and
databases regularly for their research work. Finally, it was revealed that the use of eJournals and databases is jointly determined by the level of awareness and attitude.
Keywords: Awareness, Attitude, e-Journals, Databases, Diffusion of innovation, Theory
of reasoned action
