A USER REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS OF INTERNET
RESOURCES BY CLIENTS’ AT CYBERCAFES IN IBADAN
BY
Gbolahan OLASINA
Librarian II/Systems Analyst
Central Library, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to conduct an Internet usability evaluation to
assess the various users’ requirements, their levels of proficiency with
Information Retrieval (IR) and use of search engines. It focused on
inhibitors to use of the Internet such as frustration-related experiences,
particularly from new users.
The survey method used was the questionnaire method coupled with
personal observation as tool for research.
It is recommended in this study that new users be encouraged to use the
yahoo and google search engines for IR. The academic world should
research more into the use of the Internet in education.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
It is not only today’s leading companies and organizations that have
come to accept the important role of information. Education is also fast
tapping from the Internet technology, to achieve the desired objectives.
The emergence of Internet concepts and relevant services obtainable over
the Internet, have created awareness for strategic use of information for
education and research by individuals, corporate bodies, governmental
and non-government organizations (NGOs)
Internet services have swept the communications and information world
during the past decade, providing instantaneous global information and
data exchange. Researchers and scientists who make use of Internet
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resources/service - the amorphous network that links computers via
telecommunications technologies - can correspond with academics
10,000 miles away speedily, cheaply and efficiently.
The Internet is estimated to be growing at a rate of 10-15% per month,
with numbers rising from about 56 million Internet users world wide in
1995 to about 200 million people in 1999 (Daly, 2000). Also, its
American origin notwithstanding, more than 50% of current Internet
users are outside the USA and that percentage is rising. Post-1999, less
than 20% of all Internet users are expected to be in the USA.
At present, citizens and residents of industrialized countries enjoy good
access to the Internet. For example, Finland and Iceland are among
countries with the most Internet hosts per 1,000 population, respectively,
in 1997. At the other end of the scale, the Information Revolution has
“hardly” arrived in Africa, the world’s least developed region, where
fewer than 15 countries had full Internet access in 1996 (Appiah, 1998)
However there are considerable concerns in many quarters in the third
world about the maintenance of linguistic and cultural diversity on the
Internet. Given its origins in the USA as well as the dominance of the
English language as a medium of international communication, 90% of
the databases on the Internet at present are English. Consequently, nonEnglish speakers do not have effective access to the contents available on
the Internet.
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are:
1. To identify the problems associated with end-user Internet service.
2. To examine levels of proficiency/user education amongst users.
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3. To determine factors impeding successful and easy use of the Internet by
clientele.
4. To examine the experiences of users in their use of Information Retrieval
(IR) systems on the Internet.
5. To make recommendations based on the findings of this study to all
stakeholders in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector.
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Approximately three-quarters of undergraduates are opting to use the
Internet for their research rather than going to the library, in a new study
report conducted by the Pew and Internet & American Life Project, the
study was based on more than 2,000 surveys from undergraduate students
at 27 universities across the world (Adnan, 2003). According to the study,
university students go on the Internet more than the general population.
The report also shows that students who use the Web to do academicrelated work use commercial search engines instead of the university or
other information sources. Some undergraduates rely on the Internet
because of its convenience but even though the Internet gives student
instant access to information; it does not necessarily guarantee that all the
information they find is reliable and relevant. A lot of people go on the
Internet to do research because it is right there, but it may not be the most
efficient or prevalent source.
The Internet is filled with so much
information, that it is up to the users to distinguish whether the
information is correct (Sangowusi, 2002). The burden of responsibility
lies on the users/student to verify that information.
There is also a concern with the number of research paper bibliographies
turned in by undergraduates that include URLs. Also, more than 80% of
Internet users indicated that email and the Web have become
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indispensable technologies and 85% of Internet users are using it daily, a
good number of which are undergrads (GVU, 1997) Equally, an
approximate number of page views at yahoo stands at 38,000,000 per
day, with undergraduates making up much of that figure (GVU, 1997)
The Internet users/students also use the Internet for non-research based
ends such as entertainment, socials, e-commerce (e-marketing, eshopping, etc), and games. There are new horizons for learning;
technology in education.
The Internet has a collection of articles,
recommended readings, and related links on “how computers can be used
to stimulate and develop writing skills, collaborate with peers in foreign
valuable to the scientific research and do complex kinds of problem
solving that would otherwise be impossible.
A specialized Internet
service is one, which is developed with a particular application in mind.
For instance, the LEXIS-NEXIS retrieval system, which provides access
to a very large collection of legal and business documents, is a good
example of a specialized service on the Internet-based information system
(Endeavor Information Systems, Inc., 1990) In such a system, a key
problem is how to utilize to the optimum Internet resources available or
to retrieve (almost) all documents which might be relevant to the user
information need without also retrieving a large number of unrelated
documents. Moreover, there is the additional issue of evaluating the
relevance of Internet resources to user requirements – Internet evaluation.
On Web information retrieval (IR), modern user interfaces implement
strategies, which assist the user to form a query. The main objective is to
allow him to define more precisely the context associated to his
information need.
The importance of query contextualization is a
consequence of the difficulty normally faced by users during the querying
process. Consider, for instance, the problem of quickly finding useful
information in the Web. Navigation in hyperspace is not a good solution
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due to the absence of a logical and semantically well-defined structure
(the web has no underlying logical model) (IBM, 1999).
At a glance, Internet resources include:
Remote login (telnet): Which allows the use of the CPU a designated computer on the
Internet.
File Transfer (ftp): Where any file on the Internet may be transferred from a remote
computer to yours, and vice versa.
Electronic Mail (e-mail): Sending messages to any computer on the Internet. The
messages are delivered to the addressee, but handled by any number of computers along
the way.
News (USENET) or network news: News items are exchanged as in e-mails. The only
difference being that news has expiry and thus automatically deleted after a designated
period.
Hypertext (www): A distributed method of referencing information. It integrates many
technologies, including multimedia.
Hundreds of on-line databases, many covering unique or specialized fields.
On-line library catalogues from the LC, the University of California, as well as over 200
other universities around the world.
Access to over 2 million different software programmes, often free of charge. There is
even a search tool called Archie that helps in finding particular programmes.
Bulletin boards and “virtual Communities/libraries”, where people can have discussions
about topics of common interest, post questions and get responses from around the globe.
Interactive computer games such as chess, multiuser Dungeons, Dragons, etc.
Tele-communication Technology
Voice-mail
Teleconferencing
Fax
Internet-based library & Information Services
Electronic Journals
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Electronic Publications
Net-Surfing
Search-engines
Web-based Database Services, etc
Online electronic Sources of Information
Online databases
Online databanks
Online Literature Searching
Downloading/Uploading
Output formats, etc
Electronic Libraries:
Digital Libraries/Virtual Libraries
Online Public Access to Catalogues: (OPACs)
MARC
3.1
METHODOLOGY
A questionnaire was designed in order to test the assumptions of the study
and thereby achieve its stated objectives. The questionnaire was
administered to clients / patrons at cyber cafes. A pilot project was
embarked upon to ensure reliability.
This was made to obtain on-the-spot information that the questionnaire
may not have covered and for the purpose of authentification. This also
ensures that the questionnaire test is administered by the investigator to
the sample.
The population of interest in this study is the clientele at cyber cafes in
Ibadan. In this study, a sample of 5 cyber cafes was selected out of over
500 of them. In order to avoid bias in the selection of cyber cafes, the
major ones were selected as sample size. This is necessitated by a
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growing increase in the use of the Internet by all and sundry in the society
e. g students, which has resulted in the establishment of cyber cafes
around the university community. An appraisal of what these teeming
clients-students use the Internet for is therefore imperative.
Below is the list of cyber café, located in Ibadan, included in the survey:
1. Epidata cyber café
2. Skannet cyber café
3. Farnet cyber café
4. Zephy cyber café
5. Internetfax cyber café Ltd.
The survey research method used is random sampling of cyber cafés in
Ibadan, zeroing on Agbowo /Bodija area of Ibadan, a place that has
attracted a high number of cyber cafés due to the presence of the
University of Ibadan in the study area. The study is limited to five cyber
cafes through random sampling as a result of the fact that there are so
many of them. This study has selected fourty (40) Internet users each
from the five cybercafes selected by random sampling, making a total of
two hundred (200) Internet users/respondents.
4.1 DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
This chapter presents the results of data analysis done on this study. It is a
presentation of demographic distribution of the respondents, who are
Internet users or clientele at the five cybercafes in Ibadan that were
selected by random sampling and had been aforementioned.
Research Analysis Table 1: Use of the Internet
S/n What users do on the Respondents Percentage
Internet
1
Sending&Receiving Email
150
75
2
Browsing on the Internet
25
12.5
7
3
Internet Relay Chat
15
7.5
4
Internet Telephone
6
3
5
Internet fax services
3
1.5
6
Entertainment
0
0
7
Others
1
0.5
Total
200
100.0
Table 1 above reveals what users do on the Internet. It is clear from the
table that Emailing is the most common Internet activity with 150
respondents (75%) indicating to be E-mailers. Next to this is browsing the
Internet with 25 respondents 12.5% Internet relay chat 15 respondents
(7.5%) and others follow. It implies from the table that out of the seven
activities users do on the Internet sending and receiving e-mail are the
most common.
Table 2: Number of Activities user engage in
Activities
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 …200
Respondents
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The diagram earlier shows the number of respondents’ activities users
engage in, on the Internet. It is found from the table that an average
Internet user engages in seven (7) different types of activities.
Table 3: Type of access to the Internet
Place
Respondents
Percentage
Home system
5
2.5
Office system
35
17.5
Cyber café
160
80
Total
200
100.0
Table 3 above shows the places where users usually make use of the
Internet. The table reveals that majority of user respondents 160 (80%)
visit the cyber café to use the Internet 35 respondents (17.5%) make use
of it in the office while only 5 respondents (2.5%) have the facility in
their homes. The implication of this is that the cost of procuring Internet
facilities is not a joke hence majority of users have made a visit to the
cyber café where payment is made for the activity.
Table 4: Percentage rate of the Internet meeting users’ needs
(Percentage)
S/no Resources
75-100 50-75 25-50 0-25
Total
i
E-mail
180
10
8
2
200
ii
Browsing on the Internet 150
35
10
5
200
iii
Internet relay chat
100
50
30
20
200
iv
Internet telephoning
5
10
15
170
200
v
Internet fax
-
-
-
200
200
vi
Electronic board
-
-
-
200
200
vii
Multi media
-
-
-
200
200
ix
Uploading/downloading
100
-
-
100
200
x
Internet conferencing
20
10
5
165
200
xi
E-
-
-
-
200
200
9
commerce/banking/shop
ping
xii
Internet (Advertisement)
-
5
15
180
200
Table 4 shows the rate at which Internet resources have met the users’
needs. From the table above, E-mails and browsing the Net were the
resources rated highest by respondents as meeting their needs. Half of the
population
indicated
that
the
Internet
relay
chat
and
uploading/downloading were able to meet up to 75-100% of their needs.
However, Internet fax, Electronic board, multi media, Internet
conferencing and E-commerce/banking/shopping were all indicated to be
meeting just 0-25% of the respondents’ needs.
Table 5: Areas that need improvement on the Internet
Internet design Areas
More
dialog
Respondents Percentage
boxes 20
10
(HCI)
Better navigation maps
20
10
Privacy
102
51
Information validation
10
5
Search engines
78
39
User interfaces
-
-
Classification/indexing
10
5
User studies
8
4
Internet training
102
51
More
explicit -
-
instruction
Others-language
for 98
49
non-English speakers
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On table 5 the users that needed improvement indicated only two
resources. The first one is in the area of privacy with 102 respondents
(57%) The other one, which is ‘information validation’, indicated having
98 respondents with (53%), with ‘others’, the respondents suggested
more of non-English language based information/service on the Internet.
Table 6: Search engines users are familiar with
Search engine
Respondents Percentage
www.lycos.com
-
-
www.hotbot.com
-
-
www.altavista
-
-
www.excite.com
-
-
www.infoseek.com
-
-
www.webcrawler.com -
-
www.yahoo.com
150
75%
Advanced meta search -
-
engine
Others- goggle, etc
50
25%
The table 6 above reveals the search engine users are most familiar with.
Users indicated from their responses that www.yahoo.com remains the
search engines users used most, often based on the familiarity and
experiences in using them. So also www.google.com, is one of the
‘others, please specify’ by the users is as well reported to be common
with 50 respondents (25%) of the users that took part in the study.
Table 7: Satisfaction based on relevant information retrieved
Level of satisfaction
Respondents Percentage
Very satisfied
122
61
11
Satisfied
75
37.5
Not satisfied
3
1.5
Table 7 above reveals the level of satisfaction of the Internet users with the
relevant information retrieved in their search. The table shows that 122
respondents (61%) indicated they were very satisfied. This however constituted
the majority. 75 respondents (37.5%) indicated they were satisfied while a
handful of them, 3 respondents (1.5%) indicated they were not satisfied.
Recommendations and Conclusion
The study found it imperative to recommend the following:
These recommendations are based on the finding of this research and this
research and it is hoped that they would go a long way in making the use
of the Internet by varying groups of clients much easier. The analysis of
requirements of Internet users and user studies would help not only the
clients – students, etc, but also the website developers/designers, creators,
software creators, programmers and other information professionals in
determining what information and delivery package are required by users.
The recommendations are:
1. The study found that E-mailing is the commonest activity users
engage in on the Internet. Meanwhile, this is not the only resource
on the Internet. There are several others begging for attention
which most users seemed ignorant of.
2. The findings portend that there should be a provision of access to
the Internet for all and sundry with more access points whether in
the homes or offices than available at a cheaper rate than it is at
present and this may be around the corner with the provision of
infrastructure that supports IT.
3. With most of the Internet users comfortable/satisfied using the
Internet, it goes to show that it is the medium of the moment.
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However, there is the need for Internet training for new users and
provision of user-friendly packages on the Internet. There may also
be the need for user education and online tutors to assist old and
new users.
4. System designers are also to note the twin areas needing urgent
improvements: need to have local languages on the Internet, with
contents in say Yoruba, Ibo languages. As users seem to say, they
want to see more of their local culture on the Internet. Software
creators, website designers should create systems that are less
prone to strangers breaking into personal lives such as by email,
etc. Users are also advised to be protective of their online data.
5. Undoubtedly, personal communication (email) and research remain
the major purposes that users also in Nigeria like their Western
counterparts, search the Internet for. Educators and educational
institutions are to observe this trend and invest in the provision of
these facilities as tools to enhance education/research.
6. Most users seemed comfortable with the use of the yahoo search
engine in their retrieval of information on the Internet. However, a
good number also opted for the use of the google search engine, as
they seemed comfortable with its use. There is also the need for
user education, particularly in the area of Information Retrieval
(IR) and use of search engines-use of Boolean operators (AND,
OR,+, -, etc), which would help users in their information retrieval.
Potential users of the Internet and old users are recommended to
stick to the use of yahoo and google search engines as most users
seemed to prefer them in respect of the relevance of their retrieved
documents/efficiency.
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REFERENCES
Adnan, Afni (2003) Undergrads More Likely to use Web for Research,
Daily Titan, California State University – Fullerton
(www.dailytitan.fullerton.edu)
Appiah, k (1998) International Forum on Information and Documentation
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Global Information Society pp. 31-32
Daly, J. A. (2000) Studying the impact of the Internet without assuming
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