Information and Knowledge Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5758 (Paper) ISSN 2224-896X (Online) Vol.5, No.5, 2015 128 Prospects and Challenges of Internet Use among the Postgraduate Students of Social and Management Sciences in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria Rifqah Afolake OKUNLAYA Nimbe Adedipe Library, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria Oyintola Isiaka AMUSA Nimbe Adedipe Library, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria Emmanuel Kunle OGUNLANA Nimbe Adedipe Library, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria E-mail: ogunlanaek@gmail.com Abstract The Internet is the most visible component of the dynamic developments in information and communication technologies. It could be used for information gathering, storage and dissemination in all academic disciplines .This study examined the prospects and challenges of Internet usage by post graduate students of Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye. One thousand two hundred (1200) copies of structured questionnaire were randomly distributed among various respondents and some of one thousand (1000) was retrieved and analyzed.The study found out that students use the internet mostly for chatting, mailing and entertainment. Only a few of them navigate the Internet for research purposes. In conclusion, this study recommended that there should be a compulsory formal training and workshop programs organized at departmental levels for students on the importance of Internet to their various academic activities. Keywords: Internet Usage; Postgraduate Students; Nigeria; Olabisi Onabanjo University Introduction Over the past century the desire to provide information in fast and reliable manners has brought about remarkable development in information technology. This has created a global environment that has drawn the people of the world closer. During the industrial revolution, man has learned to put motors to work and magnify human and animal muscle power. In the information age, man is learning to magnify brain power by putting the power of computation and information services on a global basis. Computer resources have been made infinite and networked together in such a way that it has allowed the generation, exchange, and manipulation of information in an uncountable number of ways. A good example of this is the Internet. The Internet is an integrating force which has melted technology of communication and computing to provide instant connectivity and global unity. Many people think that the Internet is a recent innovation, when in fact the essence of it has been around for over a quarter century (Wikipedia, 2008). The Internet began as ARPAnet, that is, “Advance Research Project Agency’’ a US Department of defence project invented to create network that would continue to function even if a large portion of it was destroyed in a nuclear war or natural disaster. Two decades after, the network that evolved was used primarily by academic institutions, scientists and the government for research and communication. The appeal of the Internet to these bodies was obvious as it allowed disparate institution to connect to each other’s computing systems and databases as well as share data via e-mail. The nature of the Internet changed abruptly in 1992 when the U.S government began pulling out of the network management and commercial entities offered Internet access to the general public. This development marked the beginning of the Internet’s astonishing expansion. Today, it has become a widely successful, rapidly growing and global digital library built on a remarkably flexible communication technology (Comer, 2006). Today, not only has most people heard about the Internet, they cannot imagine a world without it. People can now work from home, monitor and transact business, send and receive mail electronically, chat with friends and relatives, receive lectures on-line, download textbooks, get direction of places, using web-cam to view imaginary places etc. Information that took days, weeks or perhaps months to deliver can now be done in a matter of seconds. Statement of the Problem The provision and utilization of information of all kinds is vital in our rapidly changing world. Oduwole, Oyewunmi and Oyesiku (2002) assert that human activities on earth have much to do with information and