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Purpose: This study aims to examine the awareness and perception of the relevance of blockchain technology in the management of libraries and archives in the fourth industrial revolution in a developing country, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: Ten system librarians selected from five different libraries and ten archivists selected from five different archives in the Southwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria represent the sample for the study. The study adopted a purely qualitative approach where data was collected through an open-ended questionnaire mailed to the participants to guide against physical contact and maintained social distancing to observe COVID-19 protocol. Findings: The results reveal that both the librarians and archivists are aware of blockchain technology, its adoption and use in libraries and archives. There is a positive perception about blockchain technology believing that it can assist libraries and archives in storing information in a distributed settings through gathering, preserving and sharing authoritative information, and supports archivists in creating a unique verifiable record that can be accessed by anyone in archives. Implementation, maintenance cost and difficulty in sustainability are identified as the challenges of blockchain adoption. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to one geopolitical zone of Nigeria which necessitates the need for further research on the similar subject matter in other geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Practical implications: The findings of the study have identified the need for librarians and archivists to increase their awareness and develop a positive perception toward blockchain technologies. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to research the relevance of blockchain technology in Nigerian libraries and archives. This paper reported the benefits libraries and archives could derive from the adoption of blockchain, and how such can improve effective services delivery to the satisfaction of the users of archives and libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The study aims to investigate the level of awareness and use of Web 2.0 tools by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was used to collect data from 176 librarians in 49 university libraries in Nigeria. Findings – It emerged that the librarians were more familiar with social networking sites, instant messaging, media sharing sites, blogs and wikis. The popularity of these Web 2.0 tools made them the most frequently used by the librarians. Web 2.0 tools like Flickr, RSS feeds, podcasts, social bookmarking, were among the least used. The study revealed that librarians use Web 2.0 tools mostly for reference services online, library news/events, training resources, and image and video sharing. Lack of facilities such as computers with internet access, lack of skills, and lack of time were indicated as some of the barriers in the use of Web 2.0 tools by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria. Practical implications – These research results can be consulted by interested librarians as they plan to implement Web 2.0 applications in their libraries. Originality/value – This study draws an overall picture of Web 2.0 applications in Nigerian university libraries and attempts to provide helpful information to better understand how librarians elsewhere are utilizing Web 2.0 technologies in rendering library services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]