Dairy farmers are expected to maintain farm records for aiding decisions making. However, the extent to which farm records inform decision making is not clear in Gitugi Ward in Murang’a County, Kenya. This study aimed to determine the role that record keeping and maintenance play in enhancing decision making of smallholder dairy farmers in that area. Descriptive survey research design was used to examine 175 smallholder dairy farmers. Simple random sampling technique was used in getting a sample size of 118 subjects. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to test the underlying proposition. Most smallholder dairy farmers have adequate experience in dairy farming and have minimum basic education, although not sufficient for making complex computations and interpretations for key decision making. The kind of decisions made based on dairy farm records statistically and significantly affect output in dairy farming businesses. Livestock Extension Officers should embark on advocacy programs, sensitization workshops, mentorship and training programs on record maintenance practices to ensure dairy farm records are preserved and utilized in supporting decision making. The findings of this study contribute to improvement of dairy farming information management practices and in making data-supported decisions among dairy farmers in Gitugi Ward, Mathioya Sub-County and in other geopolitical regions.

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The purpose of the study was to explore how public libraries in Meru County, Kenya, address the information needs of small-scale business enterprises (SBEs) in the region. It was carried out from 2013 to 2015. A quantitative approach and survey research design were adopted to collect data from SBE traders and staff from three public libraries in Meru County. The study found that the business information needs of SBEs are myriad, sector-specific and cut across all stages of business development. These needs are fulfilled by consulting informal information resources and places. The few SBEs traders who were using public libraries for business information expressed high levels of satisfaction. The study concludes that public libraries have facilitative and functional roles of providing business information to SBEs by collaborating with like-minded stakeholders. The study recommends symmetrical dissemination of business information and the re-positioning of public libraries as community development centers by providing value-based and sector-specific business information solutions.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of utilization of online past examination papers on academic performance of IT students at Jomo Kenyatta University.Methodology: Descriptive survey research design was used in this study. Respondents were the 105 undergraduate students in Information Technology Department and 2 librarians in Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology-Eldoret Campus. They were sampled using stratified sampling, while Head of library and the library staff in charge of e-resources in JKUAT Eldoret Campus were purposively included in the study. Primary data was collected from students using closed-ended questionnaires, while interview guide was used on librarians. To ensure validity and reliability, pre-testing of research instruments was done on 20 undergraduate students of Mount Kenya university-Eldoret Campus in the department of Information Technology. D Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, frequencies and standard deviation, SPSS (version 22) was used in analysing data. Univariate and multiple regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis and overall model respectively. The results were presented using tables and explanations.Results: There is a positive and significant relationship between online past examination papers and academic performance of IT undergraduate students of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology - Eldoret Campus. The study had a normal mean of 4.7 and standard deviation of 0.58. The online past examination papers had R estimation of 0.715. The P estimation of constant was significant (.000), consequently R square value was used. The R square estimation of 0.711 inferred that online past assessment papers anticipated 71.1% of the fluctuation in the academic performance. It had a beta of 0.504 at p<0.012.Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: This study reports positive and significant relationship between online past examination papers and academic performance. The study recommends that more policies be developed so as to enable students to access diverse examinations papers, not only from JKUAT library, but also government examination bodies such as Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC). This will improve university students’ research skills and enhance their academic performance. The study contributes to the theory by acknowledging that an undergraduate student will always weigh various online electronic resources available based on their applicability to the student’s academic needs. If they suit their needs, the student will continue to utilize them further but when the needs are not met, the student stops utilizing the online past examination papers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of coffee pricing on reviving coffee production in cooperatives societies in Meru county, Kenya.Methodology: A descriptive survey research design was used in the study. The respondents were the coffee farmers and managers from coffee cooperative societies. A sample of 30%, that is,42 cooperative societies in Meru county was considered. Coffee farmers were sampled using simple random sampling for those who met inclusion and exclusion criteria, while all managers in all the sampled cooperative societies participated in the study. Data collection was done using closed-ended questionnaires and interviews. To ensure validity and reliability, pre-testing of questionnaires was done on 10 active coffee farmers, while pre-test interviews were administered to 5 managers from Kamuthi housing cooperative society of Murang’ a County. Coded data in SPSS 24.0 computer program was analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, and standard deviation. Univariate regression and multiple regression were used to test the hypothesis of the study. Tables, graphs, and detailed explanations were used to present the final results of the study. Results: Coffee pricing had the highest average mean score of 4.42 and a standard deviation of 0.89. The model summary of coffee pricing indicated that R-value was 0.932 and R-square was 0.869. This confirmed that coffee pricing predicted 86.9 % of the revival of coffee production. While being interviewed managers came out strongly that effective coffee pricing had increased new customers; there were improved sales quantities and there was retainment of old customers; clearance of stocks on time which improved revenue and reduced spoilage of coffee beans. The study therefore found out that coffee pricing significantly influences reviving coffee production in cooperative societies in Meru county Kenya.Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study contributed that coffee pricing significantly influenced reviving coffee production in cooperative societies in Meru county Kenya. Coffee farmers should be encouraged to be interested in different types of coffee pricing to offer innovative suggestions to coffee cooperative societies. Managers should be well versed with different price types and also be innovative enough to suggest new ones based on various locations and different quality of the coffee sold. The marketing department in a cooperative society should do more research on their current market base to see what prices are working and the ones that are not. The government should set up policies that will see to it that local coffee consumption has improved. This is because only 5% of coffee is consumed locally while 95% is exported