Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Skills Possessed by Reference Librarians for Service Delivery in Universities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria
Description
The study investigated information and communication technology (ICT) skills possessed by reference librarians for service delivery in universities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Two specific objectives with corresponding research questions guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population for this study was 150 library staff at the three universities under study. The sample size of 150 library staff from the three universities under study was used. The instrument for data collection is a questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using the Cronbach's alpha method, and a reliability coefficient of 0.83 was obtained. The collected data was analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviation. Findings of the study revealed that the basic ICT skills possessed by reference librarians for service delivery in universities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, include: computer booting and shooting down skills; typing skills; copying and pasting skills; printing skills; scanning skills; photocopying skills; skills to create folders; and skills to format documents, among others. The study also revealed that the intermediate ICT skills possessed by reference librarians for service delivery are: internet skills, search engine skills, database creation skills, file uploading skills, downloading skills, e-mail sending skills, SMS sending skills, Facebook usage skills, WhatsApp usage skills, Instagram usage skills, Twitter usage skills, video conferencing skills, and online chatting skills. The university library management, in collaboration with university authorities, should create avenues for annual training and retraining of their librarians so as to hone their skills; and, as well, keep abreast of recent advances in ICTs. The university management and library management should make demonstrated competence in ICTs a principal criterion for employment and promotion of reference librarians, as this will encourage self-development in ICT skills acquisition. Keywords: Information, Communication, Technology, ICT, Skills, Reference Librarians, Service, Universities.