Content area
Full Text
Keywords
Internet, Nigeria, Higher education
Abstract
This study explores the use of the cybercafe at Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. By means of questionnaires, data were collected from 83 users. Findings revealed that a majority of the respondents have not been using the cafe for a long period of time; most of them visit the internet cafe for sending or receiving e-mail, followed by browsing for academic information; most acquired internet knowledge and skills through practical self-teaching but a good number of respondents do not spend a long time accessing the net per visit. Yahoo! is the search engine used by most respondents followed by Google. The high cost of internet access is a constraint to a majority of users.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Introduction
Cybercafes are places where public internet access is provided by entrepreneurs for a fee (Adomi et al., 2003). They are places where people can have access to computers that are connected to the internet and pay a token amount for using them. While in the USA the term cybercafes often refers to true cafes offering both internet access and beverages, in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, cybercafes can refer to places offering public internet access in places like restaurants or hostels, or they could be places that are wholly set aside for public access internet services. Cybercafes are very important in Nigeria because the cost of having internet connectivity is so high that private individuals cannot afford it (Adomi et al., 2003).
Many benefits could be derived from the use of the internet. The following are the benefits of the internet (Yumba, 1997):
* Access to colleagues through nearly instantaneous transmission/receipt of e-mail messages and files.
* Powerful search utilities to locate information stored on million of computers around the world.
* Access to a large and growing array of online journals and databases on various subjects.
* Use of remote computer resources and instrumentation.
* Distance evaluation and other cooperative projects.
* Facilitation of peer review thereby strengthening research and journal publications.
* Dissemination of all kinds of data and information.
These benefits enhance...