Search

The study is basically on the Innovations and Trends in Nigeria Library & Information Practice. The study highlighted some of the innovations and trends currently in place at the Admiralty University of Nigeria. From the study, it is glaring that ADUN Library is among the few libraries in Delta State, Nigeria that have embraced innovations in their service delivery. ADUN Library has introduced QR Codes for swift access to their library holdings. Also, the library designed a library webpage for current awareness on library resources, databases, and much more. Also, it was highlighted in the present study using the OPAC embedded in the library webpage, library users can access the library materials using major keywords like the author’s name, title, publisher, date of publication, and ISBN to mention only but a few. The study has established that catching up with innovations and trends has prospects for libraries in this digital age. The challenges experienced in incorporating innovations from the ADUN Library viewpoints are poor power supply, slow internet access, limited staff, and the frequent need for training. The researchers suggest that sufficient funding should be provided to academic libraries to enable the efficient planning and implementation of innovations and trends in their library operations and adequate power supply backup equipment should be acquired for academic libraries to reduce the level of power fluctuations experienced in most libraries, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the researcher investigated the roles of digital library services amidst COVID-19 pandemic in tertiary institutions in Imo State, Nigeria. Two research questions were asked and two corresponding hypotheses formulated to guide the study. The study employed a descriptive survey design. The population is 123 library staff which comprised 89 Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) library staff and 34 Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (ALVAN) library staff. 123 respondents made up the sample for the study using census sampling technique. A 15-item researchers-constructed rating scale titled “Role of Digital Library Service amidst COVID-19 Pandemic Scale” (RDLSCPS) was used to collect data for answering the research questions and testing the null hypotheses. The instrument was validated by two specialists in Department of Library and Information Science and one specialist in Educational Measurement and Evaluation, all in Faculty of Education, Imo State University, Owerri. A test re-test method was used to ascertain reliability co-efficient of 0.79 using Pearson “r” statistics which indicated that the instrument was reliable. Research questions were answered using mean scores and standard deviation, while t-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses. The result of the study found that the roles played by digital library during the COVID-19 pandemic include provision of access to current electronic book, online resources, scholarly material produced by members of the institution and meeting the core academic needs of the library users in tertiary institutions in Imo State. Based on the findings of the study, government should ensure that the digital library projects are well funded and managed to support the digital libraries services in various tertiary institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the availability and utilization of digital reference sources and services in academic libraries in South-South Nigeria. Descriptive research design was used for the study. The population of the study is 102 librarians. The entire102 librarians were used as the sample size for the study. The instruments for data collection were a Check List and a structured questionnaire. A checklist was used to check the availability of digital reference sources and ICT facilities that supports digital reference services, while the 102 questionnaire were filled and returned to the researcher. Data collected from the study was analyzed using Percentage. The results of the study revealed that types of digital reference sources such as dictionaries, encyclopedia, and directories among others are averagely available in most of the academic libraries in south-south Nigeria. The study also revealed that asynchronous and synchronous transactions and online bibliographic reference services are often offered in academic libraries. More so, digital reference services such as searching online databases, identifying, and locating materials are often used by users in academic libraries. The study recommended that government and the university management should ensure that there is adequate fund allocation to university libraries; and university library management should provide a functional library website to make digital reference sources and services easier for librarians and library users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of book theft and mutilation on Resources and Services of University Libraries in Imo State, Nigeria. Five research objectives were formulated to guide the study. Survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study is 20,867 comprising both users and all the library staff in IMSU and FUTO. The sample size of the study is 533. This is made up of the entire 140 staff and three hundred and ninety two (392) registered users. Rating scale was used as instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to answer the research questions while Pearson Product moment Correlation (PPMC) was applied in testing of the study hypotheses. Findings show that the extent of book theft and mutilation were very high in the two universities in Imo state leading to shortage of library materials in the academic libraries in Imo State. The study recommends that library managers should sanitize academic library environment by incorporating security Men that will apprehend users who indulge in stealing and mutilation of library materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated undergraduate students' awareness, access and use of Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) in Federal University Libraries in North-East Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to determine the extent of undergraduate students' awareness about OPAC, their access to OPAC and to ascertain the extent to which the students make use of OPAC. The study used a quantitative research methodology using cross-sectional survey design to collect data from the respondents. A sample of 392 copies of a questionnaire were administered among undergraduate students in the selected university libraries, 314 copies of the questionnaires representing 80.1% were returned completed and found usable. The data collected were analyzed using tables and frequencies. The findings showed that most of the students were highly aware about the OPAC in their libraries; that the majority of students have access to the OPAC in their libraries with majority accessing it from computer terminals in the library. Furthermore, the findings revealed that majority of undergraduate students used the OPAC daily and many of them use it to select items for assignment, class presentation, and project work. The study recommended that there should be enough computers at the OPAC terminals, the university library should provide library user guide for fresh undergraduate students on how to use OPAC during library registration, organize orientation programmes on how to search information resources on OPAC, the OPAC interface designed should be made simple in order to encourage its use among the students and also ensure adequate provision of alternative sources of constant power supply to the terminals at all times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigated the awareness and utilization of social media as a tool for satisfying information needs of library users in Colleges of Education in Kano State, Nigeria. Quantitative methodology and cross-sectional survey design were used for the study. The population of the study comprised of 27,743 registered library users, out of which 379 users were sampled for the study. Data was collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis. The study found that the library users in Colleges of Education in Kano State were highly aware of social media through their personal experiences of using internet, not through their College Libraries. The users mostly used social media for academic purposes as well as for social interactions. They encountered challenges of unavailability and inaccessibility of internet due to high cost of internet subscription. The study opposed previous studies that indicated that unguided use of social media among students led to using it for non-educational purposes. The study concluded that College Libraries in Kano state were not operating based on global best practice of using social media for providing information service; they were left behind in making their users aware of utilizing social media for satisfying information needs. The study recommended that their information literacy programme should encompass awareness about using social media for satisfying information needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluated users' perception and satisfaction with reference services in Olusegun Oke Library. The aim of the study was to evaluate users' perceptions of reference services with a view to ascertain their satisfaction level. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey research design was employed. The data were analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies. The study revealed that users'perception on reference services did not rank highly satisfied to any category of reference service. The study maintained that majority of users rarely or never used reference resources. Also, the level of user satisfaction with the reference resources and services were not satisfactory with apparent limitations in good internet facility for searching online reference resources, inadequate printed reference collection and overall quality of reference services. The constraints faced by users in using reference services included the need for reference staff to be willing to help, ease of retrieving reference materials, and training and retraining of users on use of reference resources. It is recommended that there is need for short courses in customer care to be conducted for all library staff to improve service delivery. Also, periodic user satisfaction surveys should be carried out and results acted upon by the Library management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was designed to provide an understanding of the knowledge management roles of librarians in the transformations of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka Library through the provision of user -centred services. It was based on a descriptive survey approach and questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection supported by interviews. The population of the study consisted of 48 professional librarians currently working at the University Library. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repression analysis. It was found that the KM roles of librarians consisted of the knowledge processes or activities in identifying the needs of users, capturing knowledge resources to meet those needs, organizing knowledge resources available in the library for their academic work or research. It was found that for librarians to play their KM roles successfully, the University Library leadership must provide the support, create atmosphere for top down communication and encourage organizational learning. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]