Impediments to Harnessing Scholarly Electronic Journals on the Internet in Developing Countries: A Nigerian University Case Study

Purpose Electronic journals continue to usually be the format of choice for institutional serials subscriptions. However, in developing countries this is not always the case, due to access and connectivity issues. Harnessing electronic journals is the aim this paper. Design/methodology/approach The study was designed to ascertain the impediments to harnessing scholarly electronic journals on the internet in developing countries: University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria: as a case study. To this end, a questionnaire method was used to obtain data. Of the users surveyed, 79.4 per cent returned the questionnaire. Questions were raised on users’ accessibility, usefulness, access point and impediments to harnessing electronic journals on the internet. The identified problems were based on socio‐psychological phenomenon, inadequate provision of computer facilities, power outage and inadequate infrastructure such as telecommunication. Hence, these facilities are still poorly developed in developing countries. Findings Insufficient administrative infrastructure and resources are the major contributing factors and reasons why harnessing of e‐journals is not more ubiquitous and common in Nigeria. Originality value The paper offers some useful suggestions on how to tackle these problems through constant training of users on the use of internet, networking all libraries’ computer terminals, provides stand‐by generator, and put in place a technical‐oriented manpower. Finally, there is a need to overhaul the telecommunication industry so as to get a better result in term of Information Technology development in the developing countries.