Abstract:
Electronic resources are becoming an integral part of the modern life and of the educational
scene, especially the high education scene. Technology imposes its own impact on different
sectors. University is one of these sectors. The collections of universities hard copy have been
integrated with electronic resources. The services are also provided through network
infrastructure remotely. The users of information resources access the resources from wherever
and whenever they are interested to do so. These resources required additional infrastructure and
skill of the Universities to provide the service and to use the resources. The aim of this research
is to assess the impacts and benefits of using electronic resource in Ethiopian Public Higher
Learning Institutions. The methodology employed to conduct this study was survey research
design and the respondents, drawn from three EPHLI universities, (i.e., Jimma University, Addis
Ababa and Mizan Tepi University) comprised of librarians, ICT professionals, students and
staffs. Simple random sampling method was used to select samples from study population and a
purposive sampling method was used to select study areas and samples for interview. Data for
the study was collected through questionnaire, semi-standardized face-to-face interview and
observation. The result of the study revealed that, 70.0% have agreed good computer skill to use
e-resources and also 73.0% prefer and use different electronic information resources but 81.7%
of do not have any training how to use electronic information resources. And also 81.8% agreed
electronic resources support teaching learning process. There is no equal distribution of eresource among university. Awareness creation and information literacy skill should be provided
for academic staffs to improve the usability of electronic information resources. The capacity and
bandwidth of Internet, equal distribution of e-resource among university should be improved and
also ICT man power to overcome the problem of managing e-resources.
