ABSTRACT
Service delivery is the primary function of any
university library. The cumbersome nature and the inadequacies of traditional
library services have prompted university libraries to adopt social media in
library service delivery. Observations have shown that globally, many
university libraries have embraced the use of social media in their library
services. However, the pace of integrating the use of social media in library
by librarians in Nigerian University libraries is slow. Could this low usage be
attributed to lack of ICT skills to incorporate social media use? Therefore, this study investigated the
influence of ICT skills and social media use on library service delivery by
librarians in the Federal Universities in South-West, Nigeria.
The survey research
design was adopted for the study. The population was made up of 126 librarians
from Federal Universities in South-West, Nigeria. Total enumeration sampling
technique was used to cover all the librarians from five out of the six Federal
Universities. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire. The
Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for ICT skills was 0.93, Social media
was 0.83 and library service delivery was 0.73. A response rate of 95.4% was
obtained. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential
statistics.
Findings showed that
librarians were skilled in ICT. It was also shown that the extent of use of
social media tools for library services was generally low. Findings also
revealed that the most popular social media tool used was Facebook, followed by
WhatsApp, You-tube and Instant Message (IM). It was also revealed that
librarians made a very low use of Pintrest, Flickr and Podcast. Erratic power
supply, poor internet access, and inadequate ICT facilities were some of the
constraints in the use of social media. Significant relationships between ICT
skills and library services (r = 0.677, p < .05) and Social media and
Library services (r = 0.415, p < .05) were found. The two variables jointly
influenced librarians’ library services which accounted for 98% variance in the
dependent variable (R2 = .98, F (1,56) = 56, p < .05).
It was found that ICT Skills positively influenced Library services (β = .256)
as well as Social Media Use (β = .163)
The study concluded
that majority of the librarians were skilled in nearly all the ICT skills.
However, the use of Social Media by librarians in library services proved to be
very low. The study recommended that awareness in the use of social media
should be created for effective library services. Also, the library management
in conjunction with the management of these Universities should create an
enabling environment for the training of librarians on web technology (Web.
2.0), provide adequate internet access points and tackle erratic power supply.
These could motivate the librarians in using social media tools which, in turn,
would lead to the enhancement of library services.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
University
libraries support the university community by delivering services to meet the
teaching, research and learning needs of staff and students. They play a key
role in the educational system of their parent institutions by providing a
variety of services to a wide range of users in the academic environment.
University libraries acquire, process, manage and disseminate information
resources through which their parent institutions conduct research and produce
high-level manpower (Nnadozie & Onah,
2016). They provide access to information resources in diverse formats to
users. They provide timely and relevant information in support of teaching and
research needs of their parent institutions. The
university library is a repository of information resources. These resources
are the traditional information resources which include books, journals, maps,
encyclopedia, dictionaries, newspapers and periodicals. Some of the services provided are reference
services, technical services, current awareness services, selective
dissemination of information, lending services, bibliographic services,
reprographic services, inter-library loan services, indexing and abstracting
services. These services are provided to keep their patrons abreast of the latest
developments in their disciplines.
Edewor, Okite-Amughoro, Osuchukwu, and Egrejena
(2016) opined that libraries are veritable information providers rendering
strategic services. According to them, libraries are finding new ways of
serving users effectively. Library services, before the advent of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs), were essentially delivered manually and
the library materials were primarily in print format. These services were only
available during the open hours only. The staff, students and other users had
no option but to use the library in the open hours. These libraries depend
highly on print resources and manual interlibrary loan system. Most times, the information resources available
in the library are inadequate to meet the information that is needed by the
patrons. Many of the services that were delivered by the librarians fall short
of the roles librarians play as information providers.
The scenario is
different in many libraries around the world today as ICTs have affected
delivery of information service. ICTs have had tremendous impact on almost
every sphere of activity including the services provided by librarians in
university libraries. The emergence of ICTs
and the accessibility of information resources online have transformed the
services that university libraries provide to their patrons.
With the
introduction of ICTs, a lot of library services are delivered digitally. Kemdarne
(2013) defined (ICT) as the combination of telecommunication and computer
technology to facilitate transmission, collection, processing, interpretation
and distribution of information. ICTs
are the applications of modern technologies to the collection and dissemination
of information. The application of ICTs in university libraries has enabled
timely and rapid and timely access to information. The introduction of ICTs has significantly affected
almost all library functions. ICTs have brought tremendous changes to
information service delivery. Librarians in university libraries have realized
the importance of ICTs in facilitating service delivery. Information and
Communication Technologies are used in library services such as acquisition
processes, circulation services, reference services, serials management, cataloguing and classification. ICTs
help libraries in providing broad access to a
variety of information resources and provide a way to improve teaching
and research in universities. New web-based services like virtual reference
services, online reservation services, online-public
access catalogue (OPAC), news
clipping scanning services and Internet
services are some of the newly
introduced services using ICT applications to respond adequately to the changing information
seeking pattern of library users (Akande,
2014).
Information and communication technologies which are
used interchangeably with Information Technology are useful in this information
era. The use of ICTs in the library is tremendous, ranging from routine
duties such as users’ registration to more complex ones such as cataloguing and digital institutional
repositories (Gakibayo, Ikoja-Odongo&Okello-Obura, 2013).Globally, several university libraries
are employing information and communication technologies to improve the
delivery of their information services to their patrons. They use these
technologies to enhance the traditional library service delivery. For university libraries to be relevant in
this information age and as their services are now focusing on Information
Technology, librarians need to acquire Information and Communication Technology
skills to enhance the delivery of their duties. These skills include basic
computer operating skills, use of electronic mail, posting messages to sites,
and creating blogs among others. Librarians cannot fully exploit ICTs if they lack these
basic skills.
However, one of
the challenges facing library services in university libraries in Nigeria is
the unwillingness of the librarians to incorporate ICT in terms of knowledge
and skills to implement the modern library services (Ojedokun &Ayoka,
2015).Studies have shown that ICT skills of librarians in Nigerian
universities are inadequate. Nkamnebe, Okeke, Udem,
and Nkamnebe(2015), in their study found out that librarians were weakly
skilled in information and communication technologies. Ojiegbe(2010) notes that
many library staff in academic institutions rely only on the manual ways of
rendering library services and do not bother acquiring competencies to
incorporate the fast-growing
technological trends in the profession. Okon and Ogbodo (2014) also pointed out
that that one of the factors that hinders ICTs adoption by librarians in
university libraries in Nigeria is low ICT skills. Ekoja (2007) states that ICT
skills of librarians in Nigerian university libraries are inadequate. According
to him, many librarians are unable to use ICTs even when ICT facilities are
available. He opines that this poses a serious setback to service delivery.
There is no doubt
that the traditional library and information services need improvement as a
result of their limits and inadequacies. As a result of this, university
libraries are incorporating new technologies such as social media in order to
remain relevant in their universities and to meet the information needs of
their patrons. Use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Wikis, RSS
feeds, YouTube, etc. in the delivery of library and information services has
become necessary for the survival of university libraries. Facebook is used for communication between
librarians and their patrons. Library patrons can communicate with librarians
for enquiries. They also receive information on their enquiries. Facebook is
used for sharing of information and marketing library services. It is also used
to forge collaboration among librarians; this helps them to know one another
more. It is also used to search online public access catalogs (OPACs).
Twitters allows library patrons to be kept updated
on the activities of the libraries, new information resources received, and
provide announcements on conferences and seminars. Twitter is popularly used to
broadcast information about the library, promotion of library and its services.
It is an effective tool for disseminating information about the libraries. Rich site summary (RSS) is used by librarians
to provide current awareness services to their patrons. Updates on library
services, events exhibition can also be accessed by subscribing to RSS. You
tube is used to share video conferences, workshops and library events. Blogs
provide links to the library catalogues, marketing library and information
services. Instant messaging (IM) is used to enhance reference service delivery
processes. It allows immediate response to inquiries from library patrons.
Web technologies such as social media are becoming
popular in the delivery of library services. Social media are web-enabled interactive tools which make room
for communication among people. Social media enable the creation, sharing and
exchange of information and ideas. They are new forms of communication and
their uses cut across people from all walks of life. Social media tools such as
Facebook, Blog, and Twitter allow
individuals and organizations to actively engage in communication process not
only as information receivers but also as message generators. They are online
platforms designed to facilitate information sharing and exchanges of views.
Social media are gradually being used in libraries all over the world. By using
social media, libraries can connect to their patrons outside the physical
buildings and build relationships with them. They enable communication among
libraries and their users thereby serving as an opportunity for information
dissemination and the marketing of new services. Social media are used for
marketing of library products and services, announce news and for fund raising.
Instant messaging (IM) is used to enhance reference service delivery processes.
It allows immediate response to inquiries from library patrons.
Akporhonor and
Olise (2015) stated that social media are tools that librarians can use for
library services in order to maintain their relevance in this century. They
added that social media are new media for effective promotion of library and
information services in the technological era.
Social media have become a global phenomenon with
websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and
LinkedIn reporting number of users in
millions (Atulomah & Onuoha, 2011). Online social networks (OSNs)
which are used interchangeably with social media are used in university
libraries mainly to provide timely and relevant information, market services
and information resources to patrons. By reading blogs, group posting, and
messages, the librarian becomes an active member who is able to anticipate and advise
users as need arises ( Ebele &
Oghenetegar, 2014). Social Media are new technology offering new options for
African academic librarians in their research support role (Owusu-Ansah, Goutshi, Mutibwa & Ukwoma,2015). Social
media are communication platforms through the Internet that enable social
relations. Social media such as Facebook, Blog, and Twitter allow individuals
and organizations to actively engage in communication process not only as
information receivers but also as message generators. They are online platforms
designed to facilitate information sharing and exchanges of views.
Libraries could connect to their patrons outside the
physical buildings and build relationships with them using social media. They
are platforms that enable communication among libraries and their users thereby
serving as an opportunity for information dissemination. They are used as tools by librarians and
other information professionals to reach their patrons irrespective of their
locations. They are platforms to share information, promote and market new
services. Many organisations are applying
social media to improve their services and interact with their clients. Social
media have become tools used in university libraries to market their services
and provide information resources to patrons. Olajide and Alao (2016) opined
that the latest ideology of libraries all over the world to take library
services to users and not necessarily users coming to physical libraries
necessitate the need for academic libraries to incorporate social media.
According to them, social media are the most versatile tools for collaboration,
communication, and creativity.University
libraries in developed countries have taken the lead in embracing diverse
social media tools to provide quality services to their users. Librarians
in South Africa used Web 2.0 tools more often than the librarians in university libraries in
Nigeria. ( Baro, Ebiagbe, Godfrey, 2013).
The low usage might be as a result of lack of skills
to incorporate social media in library and information services. Librarians need
skills in order to adopt social media to provide better services and continue
their role as information professionals. These skills include ability to create
pages, groups, and profiles. Abilities
to navigate, browse within sites, upload messages, download messages, forward
messages are also vital. The extent to which librarians in federal universities
in Nigeria possess these skills is not known. Also studies have shown that
librarians in Nigeria were not using frequently social media tools like their
counterpart in other countries (Baro, Ebiagbe &Godfrey, 2013, Omeluzor
&Bamidele, 2014) and that they lacked web 2.0 technologies skills (Gani,
Whong, Esew, Barua & Kasa, 2015). It is against this backdrop that this
study investigates ICT skills, social media use and service delivery by
librarians in federal universities in South- West, Nigeria.
Federal Universities in South-West, Nigeria are
public institutions of higher learning established by the Federal Government.
They contribute extensively to the political, individual and cultural growth of
the country by offering academic programmes
in various fields of knowledge. These universities like other universities in
the country have learning, teaching, and research as their primary functions. They have libraries
saddled with the task of ensuring the delivery of information services to
staff, students and others
in the university community.
These libraries play a crucial role in satisfying the information needs of the
university community and assisting in locating current information resources
and materials. They are charged with the task of acquiring, storing, organizing
and disseminating information. They
provide information materials required to support the learning, teaching, and
researchneeds of their universities. University libraries, however, do not
exist in isolation and must to a reasonable extent reflect the society. While manual methods of information delivery
were fully accepted in the past, advancement in technological in this age
demands that libraries embrace the use of ICTs in service delivery.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
Service delivery
from inception has been the bedrock of libraries’ existence since libraries are
established for the sole purpose of providing information services.
University libraries in Nigeria provide wide range of services such as
reference services; inter library loan, selective dissemination of information
service, current awareness service, and indexing and abstracting services. Many of these services are delivered
manually and the delivery of these services through traditional means has been
cumbersome and time-wasting. Traditional library services restrict users to the
available resources available within the library collections only. Moreover, access to information is limited to
print resources and this places the patrons at disadvantage with limited
information resources. There is no doubt that the traditional library
and information services need improvement as a result of its limitations and
inadequacies. There is need for re-designing the services to
meet the demands of their users and remain relevant and retain their place as
information providers in this technology age. Theinadequacies of traditional
library services prompted university libraries to adopt information and
communication technologies in library services.
Advancement in ICT
has brought changes in the way libraries operate thereby demanding new skills
from librarians to provide services relevant to the needs of today’s users who
have the option of either visiting the library physically or virtually. The
virtual nature of today’s libraries, however, demands that librarians are not
only skilled in the use of ICTs but are also knowledgeable in the use of social
media tools for information dissemination among users. However, studies have
shown that librarians in university libraries in
Nigeria are not willing to integrate ICT in terms of abilities to adopt the
contemporary library services. Although literature suggests that libraries in
developed countries have embraced the use of social media in service delivery,
the pace of application of modern technologies such as social media in
university libraries in developing countries particularly Nigeria is slow. One of the probable reasons for this might be
lack of knowledge and skills involved in the use of social media. The
literature also shows there are no empirical studies correlating ICT skills and
social media use for service delivery by librarians in federal university
libraries in South-West, Nigeria. This
study, therefore, investigated the relationship between ICT skills, social
media use and services by librarians in federal universities in South-West,
Nigeria.
1.3
Objective of the Study
The general objective of this study was to
investigate the relationship between ICT skills, social media use and libraryservices
of librarians in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria. The specific objectives
are to:
1.
determine the level of ICT skills of
librarians in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria,
2.
find
out the frequency of use of social media for service delivery by librarians in
federal universities in South-West, Nigeria,
3.
find out the extent
that librarians in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria
deliver services using social media,
4.
determine the relationship between ICT
skillsand service
delivery by librarians in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria,
5.
ascertain the relationship between
social media use and service delivery by librarians in federal universities in
South-West, Nigeria,
6.
examine
the influence of ICT skills and social media use on service delivery by librarians
in South-West, Nigeria and
7.
find
out the challenges librarians in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria
face when using social media to provide services.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:
1.
What is the level of ICT skills of
librarians in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria?
2.
How often do librarians in federal
universities in South-West, Nigeria use social media for service delivery?
3.
What are the services that librarians in federal universities in South-West,
Nigeria provide using social media?
4. What challenges do librarians in federal
universities in South-West, Nigeria face when using social media to provide
services?
1.5Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were tested in the study
at 0.05 level of significance:
Ho1 There is no significant relationship
between ICT skills and service delivery by librarians in federal universities
in South-West, Nigeria.
Ho2
There is no significant relationship between social media use andservice
delivery by librarians in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria.
Ho3ICT skills and social media use
will not jointlyinfluence service delivery by librarians in federal
universities in South-West, Nigeria.
1.6
Scope of the Study
The study focused on the influence
of ICT skills and social media use on service delivery by librarians in
South-West, Nigeria. It covered the librarians in the six federal universities
in the South-West Geo-political zone of Nigeria. These universities are Federal
university of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Federal University, Oye Ekiti, University
of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Federal University
of Technology, Akure, and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Librarians in state and private
universities are excluded in the study.
The researcher covered the
essential areas of this work which comprised the following: ICT skills of
librarians in the federal universities South-West, the various services
available in these university libraries, the use of social media, the extent to
which they used social media for library services in these university libraries
and the challenges involved in the use
of social media in these libraries. The ICT skills that are covered by this
study included basic computer operating skills, using e-mail, posting messages
to chat sites, setting up discussion list and creating blogs. It did not cover
ICT skills required for resolving technical issues such as troubleshooting as this was most likely outside
the scope of librarians. Considering the
volume of social media applications available online, the study concentrated on
the social media that are used mostly for information exchange such as
Facebook, Twitter, Wikis, Youtube,
Instant Messaging (IM) and Blogs. Moreover, the study did not cover social
media applications dealing with games (such as four square) and related issues
as these might not be relevant to the delivery of library services.
The study covered all librarians in the Federal
universities in South- West, Nigeria. The reason for limiting this study to
federal universities was based on the fact that these universities were
financed by the federal government. As a result of this, it was assumed that
they had more ICT facilities to incorporate social media in order to link up
with many staff and students. Also, they
are relatively old and are likely to be technological driven. In addition, since they have a large
population of staff and students, social media will help them to reach to these
staff and students and provide quality service to them.
1.7 Significance of the Study
This study is significant as the findings would
create awareness about ICT skills and social media use for improved information
service delivery. It would help them to develop strategies that would guide
them in the use of social media for library services. The findings of this
study would be useful to librarians by exposing them to the types of
competencies they need to possess in order to use social media to provide
better and quality services to their patrons. Findings of this would assist
library administrators in identifying skills needed for improved service
delivery as a result of which adequate strategies may be developed to improve
service delivery. Library management in university libraries especially
university libraries in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria would find
the findings helpful in deciding on the kinds of social media to utilize.
Moreover, the findings could be used by library
administrators to organize regular training programmes to train librarians with
the latest development in web technologies. The findings of this study would
also be of benefit to library science schools as it can spur the redesigning of
the curriculum to provide students with the essential skills required to use
social media. Also this study serves as
a contribution to existing knowledge on ICT skills, social media use and service delivery in tertiary institutions in
Nigeria. Although there are studies on
social media use for service delivery by librarians, this is the first attempt
to the best of researcher’s knowledge to study social media use for service
delivery as it relates to ICT skills in Nigerian university libraries
especially in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria. This study would also contribute to the existing
knowledge on ICT skills and social media use for service delivery by librarians
in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
The following are the definitions of the basic
concepts and terms as used in the study:
Information
and Communication Technologies: refer to
technologies that allow users to process, disseminate, and store information.
Information
and Communication Technologies Skills:
These refer to abilities that librarians in federal universities in South-West,
Nigeria need to communicate, create process, disseminate, store and manage
information electronically.
Social
Media: Online tools that allow creation,
sharing, and exchange of information among people especially people with common
interests.
Service
Delivery refers to the act of providing
information services by librarians in federal universities in South-west to clients.
================================================================
Item Type: Postgraduate Material | Attribute: 92 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment