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Article
Publication date: 8 May 2017

Ebikabowei Emmanuel Baro, Gabriel Ejiobi Bosah and Ifeyinwa Calista Obi

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which academic staff members in tertiary institutions in Nigeria access research grants, and to bring to light the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which academic staff members in tertiary institutions in Nigeria access research grants, and to bring to light the factors that hinder their effort to accessing research grants.

Design/methodology/approach

An online questionnaire was designed using the SurveyMonkey software to collect the qualitative data from academic staff in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Findings

The study revealed that only a few number of academic staff members in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria have received research grants. The study also revealed that a large number of research works carried out by academic staff are funded by themselves from the meager salary they receive. It also emerged that Tertiary Education Trust Fund is the highest funding body that academic staff have received research grants from. Different research funding agencies/organizations both local and international that support studies in Nigeria were also mentioned to create awareness for others to utilize. Politics in the selection of research proposals, inadequate publicity/advertisement for research grants applications and lack of knowledge about funding agencies/organizations were identified as the most mentioned hindrances to accessing research grants in Nigeria.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of this study is the low response rate obtained, considering the number of tertiary institutions in Nigeria which does not permit generalization. The low response rate suggests that responding to an online questionnaire is not high on the agenda of academic staff members in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, and this is a major challenge for researchers undertaking evidence-based research considering the number of institutions.

Practical/implications

The findings will provide academic staff with important data and insight into the various local and international research funding agencies/organizations that support research in Nigeria.

Social/implications

Academic staff members receiving research grants will enable them find a solution to societal problems through evidence-based research. The findings of this study will inform other academic staff of the various research funding agencies/organizations that support research in Nigeria. This will create awareness for them to access such grants.

Originality/value

The work is an original research work conducted by the researchers. The findings will add to the body of knowledge on the area of research funding in Nigeria.

Details

The Bottom Line, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0888-045X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2019

Chukwuma Clement Okeji, Eriye Chris Tralagba and Ifeyinwa Calista Obi

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the digital literacy skills possessed by librarians working in university libraries in Nigeria.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the digital literacy skills possessed by librarians working in university libraries in Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

An online questionnaire was developed using SurveyMonkey to collect data from 111 librarians working in both public and private universities in Nigeria.

Findings

The study revealed the digital literacy skills that the librarians rated as very high and high, and those that they rated as moderate and low. The study also revealed the knowledge and competencies that they rated to be highly competent and competent, as well as also those that they rated to be neutral and not good. The librarians rated their knowledge of network and system security; ability to apply security software firewalls, filtering routers and ability to protect access to digital content by providing password or IP base access as neutral and not good. Overall, the study revealed that almost half of the librarians rated their level of digital literacy skills possessed to be moderate. Only few librarians rated their digital literacy skills to be excellent.

Practical implications

The findings will be helpful to librarians, information professionals, libraries and library schools. The results will inform librarians on the skills and digital competencies that are essential for developing and managing digital resources and protecting digital contents.

Originality/value

Findings will be helpful to explore the skills and competencies needed by information professionals and to act as a guideline for competency development and curriculum update in library schools in developing countries.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. 69 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

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