ABSTRACT
The study examines the impact of internet as a research tool for students of tertiary institutions with a case study of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. However, students of tertiary institutions are required to carry out research project at their final year level in the university, polytechnic and colleges in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Diploma, Higher Diploma, BSc, Pg.d, M.sc up till PhD level and for this reason, they need lots of materials that are relevant or previously researched in the area of their focus to guide them and one of the easiest and cheapest way to access them is through the internet because in this age of information and communication technology (ICT), the use of internet has become norms and culture in academic sphere especially in higher institution of learning due to its richness in academic resources. Survey research method was adopted in which one hundred and twenty copies of questionnaires were administered to respondents who were purposively selected. Data collected were analysed using frequency and percentage table. The results from the analysis of the responses showed that students use internet for research, assignment, social networking, dating and e-mailing. 36.4% said internet has positive effect on academic performance of students in high extent and 31.8% of the respondents use Google.com search engine while looking for information online. Majority of the respondents submitted that lack of fund and erotic power supply are the major challenge facing students in the usage of internet. Similarly, 90.9% of the respondents concluded that internet has enhanced the research ability of students.
