Browsing by Author "Mtega, W.P"

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Awareness and use of Web 2.0 technologies in sharing of agricultural knowledge in Tanzania
(Knowledge Management and E-Learning Journal, 2014) Mtega, W.P; Dulle, F.W; Malekani, A.W; Chailla, A.M
The current study investigated the extent to which agricultural researchers and extension workers were aware of Web 2.0 technologies and put them into practice in their daily work. The study involved 107 respondents in the first phase and 148 in the second phase. Respondents were from agricultural research and training institutions as well as agricultural extension departments from selected districts across the country. Structured questionnaires were administered to selected respondents. Findings show that 43.9% of the respondents were aware of Web 2.0 while 56.1% knew nothing about this concept. Facebook and Wikipedia were found to be the most used Web 2.0 tools by many respondents while Delicious, Pbworks, Picasa and Digg were identified as among the less commonly used tools by majority of the respondents. The study recommends the need for providing appropriate Web 2.0 training packages to agricultural extension workers, researchers, trainers and other stakeholders in order to enhance knowledge sharing among them for improved agricultural productivity in the country
The usage of e-resources among agricultural researchers and extension staff in Tanzania
(Library and Information Research, 2014) Mtega, W.P; Dulle, Frankwell, W; Malekani, A.W; Chailla, A.M
This article investigates the accessibility and usage of e-resources among agricultural researchers and extension staff in five out of seven agricultural zones in Tanzania. The study identifies sources of e-resources used by these researchers and staff, as well as assessing their information literacy levels and the factors influencing their usage of e-resources. The research used a survey approach based on convenient non-probability sampling. Findings show that usage of e-resources from popular agricultural databases remains low. Factors limiting access to e-resources include poor institutional ICT infrastructure, limited funds for e-resources and low information literacy levels. Recommendations include improvements to ICT infrastructure and budgets, as well as developing electronic institutional repositories to improve extension staff access to research outputs, creating a sustainable link between agricultural research and farming activities. Information literacy modules in agricultural training institutes could also support effective access to, and use of, e-resources.