© Kamla-Raj 2016 J Soc Sci, 49(3): 289-297 (2016) Impact of Access and Use of Information in a Selected Higher Institution’s Academic Library in the Eastern Cape of South Africa Boniswa Ngcongolo 1 and Akeem Adewale Oyelana 2* 1 Department of Library and Information Science, University of Fort Hare, P.B. X1314, Eastern Cape, Alice, 5700, South Africa 2 Department of Public Administration, University of Fort Hare, P.B. X1314, Eastern Cape, Alice, 5700, South Africa E-mail: 1 <201112079@ufh.ac.za>, 2 <201100592@ufh.ac.za> KEYWORDS University Library. Information. Resources. Access. Internet ABSTRACT The study set out to investigate the ease with which University of Fort Hare (UFH) students’ access and use the information available at the university library. The study used self-administered questionnaire to collect data from the respondents. The objectives of the study are: to establish the types of information sources that the University of Fort Hare students mostly access and use; and to discover the extent to which the UFH students are satisfied with the information resources available within the University Library. The finding of the study reveals that majority of the students mostly use library information resources such as books, journals and websites for a variety of reasons such as: class assignments and research. However, the findings also showed that it is not easy for the students to access and use the information in the library due to obsolete resources; the students are also dissatisfied with the library internet. The study recommended that government should donate, purchase and supply all the academic libraries with new information resources such as recent books and academic journals in order to replace some of the obsolete ones available in the shelves and also the UFH management should always ensure that the internet facilities are improved and constantly available for all the users in order to ensure effective and efficient internet access. Address for correspondence: Akeem Adewale Oyelana Department of Public Administration, University of Fort Hare, Alice, P.B. X1314, Eastern Cape, 5700, South Africa Mobile: +27837286640, E-mail: 201100592@ufh.ac.za INTRODUCTION There are many types of libraries such as; special library, national library, public library, re- search library, academic library etc. However, the focus of this study is on an academic library. An academic library is a library that forms an inte- gral part of a college or university whose major objective is to meet the academic needs of a particular institution for which it is created to serve (Krolak 2005). However, academic library is seen as one of the types of libraries that is at the forefront of providing information services to their respective communities or areas which comprises of students, lecturers and research- ers in order to support teaching, learning and research needs. According to Jonathan (2012), the purpose of any academic libraries is to help students acquire more skills or knowledge by accessing and using information available with- in the libraries vicinity when they are away from their teachers. Information is now considered as the fifth factor of production because it is needed in all stages of human development. Students need information to learn new skills and also to satis- fy their courses or academic demands. Ramaso- di (2009) stated that academic library informa- tion is seen as an input which is utilized in the library in order to provide good learning envi- ronment for students and teachers so as to be able to achieve educational goals. One primary objective of any academic library is to offer vast amount of information to users (Agyen-Gyasie et al. 2010). However, according to Abdullahi (1998), usefulness of a library depends upon its proper organization which includes the accessi- bility and availability of information resources. The University of Fort Hare Library (UFHL) was established in 1916, and it has since grown