INTERNET USE PATTERN AMONG THE FACULTY MEMBERS OF P.S.R. ENGINEERING COLLEGE, SIVAKASI, TAMILNADU Miss. P. Latha, Research Scholar, DLIS Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu, India Mail id: latha15_6@yahoo.com Dr. S. Raja, Asst. Librarian, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu, India Mail id: lisraja1979@gmail.com ABSTRACT This paper targets to evaluate and evaluate the use of internet by the faculty members of PSR Engineering College, Sivakasi, with a view to observe the exposure of faculty members to use internet utilization. Besides, it aims to highlight the problems encountered by the users and suggests some remedial measures for its improvement. The authors investigate the use of e-internet by the faculty members of PSREC through a survey based on a structured questionnaire. The study confirmed that frequency of internet usage, purpose of using Internet; examine the place of accessing internet, satisfaction with internet service provided by the PSR Engineering College and so on. Keyword: PSR Engineering College, Internet, Computer, Networks 1. INTRODUCTION Today Internet plays a vital repository of every system of information. The word Internet is derived from two words: Interconnection and Networks. Internet is a worldwide system of computer networks that is a network of network which allows the users to share information. The high level of connectivity encourages an unparalleled degree of communication, resource sharing, and information access. Digital era, internet plays a major role for to dissemination of information. The Internet can be defined as the wired or wireless mode of communication through which one can receive, to transmit information that can be used for single or multiple operations. Internet is a very good platform to learn many things to surveying our day to day life. Present study describes internet use pattern among the faculty members of PSR Engineering College, Sivakasi, Tamilnadu. 2. PROFILE OF P.S.R. ENGINEERING COLLEGE P.S.R. Engineering College was vision of providing Quality Technical established in the year 1999 by P.S.Ramasamy & Charitable trust with a Education mainly for the people of this rural 1 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
area. The institution is sprawled over an area of 50 acres of land south of Sivakasi. The college has a separate two floor building for Library with abort 29,000 volumes of Text and Reference Books. About 210 National and International Journals are available for ready reference of students and staff. The Campus is Wi-Fi enabled. An 22 Mbps Wireless VSAT Connection and 10 mbps Leased Line Data circuit helps in providing internet facility to the campus. About 1000 Computer Systems available at various laboratories help the students to 3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Suriya, Sangeetha and Nambi (2004) studied a research work on Information seeking behaviour of Faculty Members from Government Arts Colleges in Cuddalore District. The purpose of their study was to investigate, how faculty members seek information from the library. Dhanavandan, Mohammed Esmail and Nagarajan (2012) carried out a study to find out the utilization of e-resources among the students and faculty members of Krishnasamy College of Engineering and Technology, Cuddalore and found that majority of the users (42%) indicated that they preferred print version of resources for enhance their knowledge in Computer Skills. The college offers Engineering Education to men and women at UG and PG levels and brings out the total personality, emphasizing ethical values and preparing them to meet the growing challenges of industry and diverse social needs of our nations. The courses offered in PSREC are approved by AICTE. It has been accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). PSREC offers 7 UG Programmes, 6 PG programmes. It mentions that most of the library several times a week to meet their information needs. Regarding the type of search made by the respondents the majority of the respondents 91 (56.87%) made their search by subject. their convenience; 113 users are aware of facilities and services of digital library and make use of it. Only 12% of the respondents use e-resources rarely. Most (45%) of the students use the e-resources for studying and 18.6 % of users for updating the knowledge. Half of the users (55 %) preferred electronic journals and e-books and 28 % of 2 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
respondents preferred CDs/DVDs. Francis (2012) discussed about the utilization of consortia-based digital information resources by the post graduate and doctoral students of the Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur. results show that Library-subscribed online resources were Ali, Mohammed Maqsood (2013) investigated an exploratory study related to the Internet usage among students and teachers of engineering. The study revealed Rawat and Vithal (2013) intended to assess and evaluate the exposure of ICT and the use of e- resources by the students of NTR College of Veterinary Science, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Gannavaram, Andhra Pradesh and confirmed that students of Veterinary Sciences are aware of the e- resources and use various types of e-resources, e-database, and e-journals. The study suggests for the improvement in the access facilities with high internet speed and subscription of more e-resources for the students. Laxman (2013) Soman and Sudhir (2015) described a Survey method and Questionnaire tools were used for data collection. This study includes about 74 respondents from high school and senior secondary school in various schools of used by 85.71(%) and CD-ROM database resources available in the libraries were used by 65 % students. 36.07(%) of the students accessed and used e- resources many times in a week, 28.68(%) once in a week and 10.66(%) daily. that nine out of ten the students and all the faculty members using the internet for various purpose which related to academic and non academic. studied the usage of e-resources available through UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium among the users of the University of Pune. The study reveals that usage of e- resources is increasing. More users are getting awareness of e-resources and using e-databases. Users from Chemistry field are more active in using e- databases. Some databases contain very less titles, but the usage of these databases is very high. Subject specific databases are highly used than multi-subject databases. thiruvanthapuram. Analyses revealed that 59.46% students are computer literates and are aware of on line resources. The mostly used assistive technology is screen reader. The findings of this study would be helpful in getting a fairly good idea of students 3 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
awareness level of internet resources and assistive technologies. The out come some suggestion of the study to help the school authorities, Librarians and the government to provide adequate services and training to visually impaired students to access of information without any barriers. Another study was conducted by Eskay and Chima (2013) he was discussed in the study found that there is a need to meet the needs of persons with visually impaired through 4. METHODOLOGY The study carried out by the authors belongs to descriptive research study. The authors have used sampling method in his survey study. The data collected are primary and secondary in nature. 110 faculty members constitute the sampling frame of the study. The sampling techniques adopted are stratified random sampling. Questionnaire is the tool used by the authors for collecting required data for the investigation. The questionnaires were 5. OBJECTIVES The Present study efforts to achieve the following objectives: 1. To identify the gender-wise utilization of internet resources. 2. To find the frequency of internet usage. assistive technologies such as Screen reader, Braille translation software, Braille writing equipment, Closed -circuit television (CCTV), and Braille embosser and scanners. Challenges militating against service delivery for the visually impaired in Nigeria and workable strategies for improving library and information services to the visually impaired are suggested. distributed to the faculty on their visit to the library. 125 questionnaires were distributed to the faculty members on first come first get basis. The researcher was able to get back only 110 duly filled-in questionnaires. The secondary data required for the study was collected from various sources of information like books, national and international journals, projects, magazines, theses and dissertations etc. 3. To know the purpose of using Internet. 4. To examine the place of accessing internet. 4 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
5. To find out the satisfaction with internet service provided by the PSR Engineering College. 6. To study the various problems faced by the faculty members of PSR Engineering College. 7. To examine the search engines which they frequently used. 8. To find storage medium of information. 6. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Table 1.Gender-wise distribution of respondents Gender No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Male 62 56 Female 48 44 Total 110 100 Figure - 1 Gender-wise distribution of respondents Gender-wise distribution of respondents The above tables 1 and Figure 1 indicates that the gender-wise distribution of respondents. Out of 110 faculty members, 62(56 %) are male and 48(44%) are female. 5 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
Table 2.Frequency of Internet Usage Frequency No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Daily 54 49 Once in a Two Days 28 26 Weekly 16 15 Monthly 8 7 Rarely 4 3 Total 110 100 Figure - 2 Frequency of Internet Usage Frequency of Internet Usage Table 2 and Figure 2 denotes using internet by the faculty members of PSR Engineering College. 54 (49%) of respondents using the internet daily, 28 (26%) of faculty respondents using the internet once in a two days, 16(15%) of respondents used the internet weekly, 8(7%) of respondents were used internet monthly and 4(3%) of respondents were using the internet rarely. 6 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
Table 3.Purpose of Using Internet Purpose No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Prepare for Class teaching 60 55 Searching Journal Articles 31 28 To Write Project 8 7 Personal Purpose 11 10 Total 110 100 Figure - 3 Purpose of Using Internet Purpose of Using Internet Table-3 and Figure 3 represented articles, 8(7%) of respondents using the that 60(55%) of respondent used the internet services to prepare for class teaching, followed by 31(28%) for searching journal internet for project writing, 11(10%) of faculty members were using the internet for the personal affairs. Table 4.Place of Accessing Internet Facility Access the Internet Facility No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Computer lab / Department 52 47 In Home 18 17 Internet Centers 6 5 College Library 30 28 Other Place 4 3 Total 110 100 7 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
Figure - 4 Place of Accessing Internet Facility Place of Accessing Internet Facility Table 4 and Figure 4 describes about the various access point of internet by the respondents. It is indicated that 52(47%) of respondents accessing internet at college computer lab/departments, 18(17%) of respondents accessing internet at their house, 6(5%) of faculty members accessing internet at internet centers, 30(28%) of respondents accessing internet at college library, 4(3%) of faculty members accessing internet at other places. Table 5.Storage Medium of Information Storage Medium No. of Respondents Percentage (%) CD 10 9 DVD 15 14 Pen Drive 82 75 Any Other 3 2 Total 110 100 8 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
Storage Medium of Information Above Table 5 and Figure 5 reveals that majority of respondent stored their internet accessed information in pen drive Figure - 5 Storage Medium of Information 82(75%), followed by DVD 15(14%), CD 10(9%) and other mode of information storage devices is 3(2%). Table 6.Preference of Search Engines Search Engines Always Often Sometimes Rarely Total Percentage (%) Google 34 15 10 5 64 59 Yahoo 12 6 3 3 24 22 Bing 3 3 1 0 7 6 Alta Vista 4 2 2 1 9 8 Others 2 2 1 1 6 5 Total 55 28 17 10 110 100 Figure - 6 Preferences of Search Engines 9 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
Preference of Search Engines Table no. 6 and figure 6 explain the preference of search engines by the respondents while accessing the internet. Google 64(59%) was ranked first among the list and yahoo 24(22%) was ranked as second, Alta vista 9(8%) was ranked as fourth, bing 7(6%) was ranked as fourth and other search engines were occupied last place 6(5%). Table 7.Level of satisfaction with resources available on Internet Level of Satisfaction Male Female Total Percentage (%) Fully Satisfied 35 29 64 58 Partially Satisfied 20 15 35 32 Not Satisfied 7 4 11 10 Total 62 48 110 100 Figure 7 Level of satisfaction with resources available on Internet Level of satisfaction with resources available on Internet Table and figure 7 indicate that partially satisfied with internet resources and 64(58%) offaculty members are satisfied 11(10%) of not satisfied with internet with resources, 35(32%) of respondents are resources. 10 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
Table 8.Problem Faced by the Respondents While Using Internet Kinds of Problems Male Female Total Percentage (%) Lack of Hardware / Software 23 21 44 40 Lack of Timing 20 16 36 33 Slow Access to Information 19 11 30 27 Total 62 48 110 100 Figure - 8 Problem Faced by the Respondents While Using Internet Problem Faced by the Respondents While Using Internet The table 8 and figure 8 show that information 30 (27%). Hence, the above Lack of Hardware / Software facility was table indicates that male respondents faced the main problem faced by the faculty more problems than female respondents members of PSR Engineering College 44 while accessing internet at PSR Engineering (40%), followed by other problems such as College. Lack of Timing 36 (33%) and slow access to 11 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,
7. CONCLUSION Findings of the study reveals that majority of the faculty members under the study are male. Most of the teachers using the internet daily and majority of the teachers use internet for preparing classroom teaching and searching journal articles. The majority of the respondents are satisfied with information resources available over internet. Google is the most preferable The findings of this study indicate that about the internet use pattern among the faculty members of PSR Engineering College, Sivakasi, Tamilnadu. The utilization of the Internet as an instructional tool in higher educationis rapidly increasing. Today, there is an increase in the 8. REFERENCES 1. Suriya M., Sangeetha G. and Nambi M.A: Information Seeking Behaviour of Faculty Members from Government Arts Colleges in Cuddalore District, In: Kaul,H.K. and Patil, S. K. (Eds.), Library and information Networking, 2004, pp.285 292. 2. Dhanavandan, S., Mohammed Esmail, S., &Nagarajan, M: Use of Electronic Resources at Krishnasamy College of Engineering & Technology Library, Library Philosophy and Practice, 9(3), 2012. 3. Mohammed Maqsood Ali: Internet Usage among Students and Teachers: An Exploratory Study, International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering. 3(6), 2013, pp.125-135. 4. Rawat, S.&Vithal,R: Use of E-resources by Undergraduate Students of NTR College of search engine of the faculty members of PSR Engineering College. It might be hindering the use of internet resources among the teachers. 21st century is known as information era where awareness of computer security, copyright and the law are very vital, one should aware of it. The study also indicate that majority of the teachers are not aware of copyright law. development of academic course websites with huge amounts of learning materials imbedded within them. The Internet s ability to provide students quick access to information sources and databases located at geographically removed institutions makes it a valuable information source for students. Veterinary Science, Andhra Pradesh, DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, 33(5), 2013, pp.394-398. 5. Soman,V. S. Midhula and Sudhier, K. G. Pillai: Awareness and Use of Internet Resources by Visually-Impaired Students in Kerala: Case Study of Thiruvananthapuram District, DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology, 35(2), 2015, pp.100-105. 6. http://www.psr.edu.in/ 12 Internet Use Pattern among the Faculty Members of P.S.R. Engineering College, Sivakasi,