Search results

The article aims to focus on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Abuja, first zonal workshop on Advanced Digital Appreciation for lecturers from Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education in Nigeria. A total of 89 lecturers from nine tertiary institutions from the south–south zone of Nigeria participated in the workshop. The workshop took place in October 2006.

The paper gives an outline of the event.

The broad business and purpose of the NCC as derived from the enabling Decree 75 of 1992 is to facilitate private sector participation in telecommunications service delivery, coordinate and regulate the activities of all the operators to ensure consistency in availability and survey of service delivery and fair pricing.The DBI is an international Centre for Communications Studies which is affiliated with the NCC. The workshop comprised five modules: Introduction to Computers, Introduction to Microsoft Word 2003, Introduction to Microsoft Power Point 2003, Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2003, and Introduction to the Internet.

The article details how the workshop was a train‐the‐trainer initiative for lecturers in higher institutions with a view to equipping them with knowledge and skills of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) which would facilitate the research and teaching activities in their respective institutions.

This study aims to ascertain gender differences in librarians’ publication output in Nigerian university libraries; to spotlight the benefits librarians derive from publication, and to identify the problems encountered by librarians in their publication efforts.

The study employed a descriptive survey method supported by a questionnaire. The population of the study consisted of a focus group made up of a total number of 55 academic librarians from five university libraries in Edo and Delta States. The researchers also engaged both male and female academics in the various institutions using a semi‐structured interview.

It was revealed that male librarians publish more than their female counterparts. The interview responses also revealed that female academics noted family responsibilities as a major factor hindering them from publishing equally as their male counterparts. It was discovered that male and female librarians in the university libraries investigated publish their works mostly in the African continent, and enumerated promotion/career advancement, contribution to knowledge, personal and institutional prestige as the major benefits librarians derive from publication.

It is hoped that the study will help librarians to see the advantages in publishing in order to improve promotion prospects and advance in their careers. The findings of the study will also be useful in making library management and the university authorities aware of the need to enable improved conditions to support research and publication by librarians.

Technological advancement has forced academic libraries to change their traditional services and routines by adopting emerging technologies to respond to the changing information needs of their users who are now more technologically inclined and prefer to access information remotely and in a timely manner. Smart technologies are the recent trends in academic libraries. This research aims to investigate the level of smart information service implementation at academic libraries in Jordan. It also aimed to investigate the correlation between the level of smart information services offered by the libraries and the level of digital competencies among the library staff.

This research is designed using survey design to collect comprehensive information from the study participants. A questionnaire was disseminated to 340 respondents, and 246 questionnaires were returned and were suitable for analysis with a response rate of 72.4%.

The results indicated a moderate level of smart information service offered by academic libraries, as well as a moderate level of digital skills associated with the advocacy of smart information services. The results also indicated a strong and positive relationship between the level of smart information services at the investigated libraries and the level of digital competencies among the librarians.

The findings will help other academic libraries understand how to respond to the emergent change in users’ information-seeking behavior by understanding their available human resources competencies and the requirement to undergo this emergent change.

This paper provides insights and practical solutions for academic libraries in response to global information trends based on users’ behaviors. This research was conducted in Jordan as one of the developing countries and hence it provides insights of the situation there. It will help academic libraries in Jordan and the region to handle and cope with the challenges associated with technology acceptance based on its staff level of digital competencies. The contribution of this research that it was done in a developing country where progress in the filed can be considered slow because of many factors, mainly economics, where institutions focus on essential library objectives, which are information resources development and databases subscriptions.

This study aims to explore the present status of open-source institutional repository (IR) software’s usage in the university libraries of Islamabad. This study also investigates the views, satisfaction level and challenges of librarians in the adoption and use of IR software.

A survey was conducted to collect data from the Library Information Science (LIS) professionals working in the university libraries of Islamabad. Data were collected from all library professionals of the Islamabad university libraries by using a structured questionnaire. Out of the total 104 LIS professionals, 84 participated in the study with a response ratio of 80.76%.

The findings disclose that out of 23 universities recognized by Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Islamabad, 17 (public and private) have developed IRs. Currently, university libraries that have fully implemented the IRs are less as compared with those universities that have partially implemented IR software. However, a good number of university libraries are in the process to develop IRs. Free and open-source software is being used mostly in libraries as compared with in-house developed, locally developed or commercial software. The opinion of librarians about using IR software expressed a positive attitude of librarians. Some of the major challenges encountered by the librarians in using open-source IR software include selection of suitable software and materials for digitization, lack of cooperation from the parent organization, inadequate training opportunities and lack of skilled staff.

This study is geographically limited to the university libraries in Islamabad.

This study will encourage the Pakistani LIS professionals to use open-source software for the development of IRs in their libraries.

This study concludes that the development of IRs in university libraries is a need of the hour. Although the launching of IRs requires certain skills and competencies, Pakistani librarians can overcome these challenges by mastering the ICT skills.

The purpose of this study is to examine and provide additional insights into Nigerian 419 scams. Such scams may also be referred to as advance fee frauds. This study not only provides a historical perspective as to why these scams continue to remain popular and successful but also addresses cultural issues and technological issues associated with this type of fraud.

The analysis is primarily conceptual, focusing on the historical underpinnings of 419 scams as well as changes that have occurred as a result of technological advancements. Further, an active Nigerian scammer agreed to be interviewed by one of the authors and the information has been incorporated into this paper.

Fraudsters in Nigeria use a more “scientific” approach to identifying victims. The Government of Nigeria has been implementing some new policies and techniques to identify these fraudsters as well as to attempt to curtail such fraudulent activities. Unfortunately, these attempts have had limited success and more will be needed to slow down 419 scammers. The total elimination of such scams is unlikely.

Although many 419 scams have been reported in the news, actual studies in this area are quite limited. Further, current research has not produced comprehensive papers that focus on why these frauds ever started, how they have developed over time and how technology has impacted such frauds. This paper is among the first to include “inside” information from an actual Nigerian scammer and thus adds significant value to the existing literature.

The lack of a country-wide data on the extent to which academic librarians in Ghana publish combined with perceived publishing challenges as indicated by a number of scholars including Opoku (2012) leaves much to be desired. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to seek the views of professional librarians in Ghana on the subject.

Using a sample size of 45 out of 50 academic librarians who make up the membership of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries, the study employed the descriptive survey research strategy in identifying the prospects and challenges associated with academic publications among librarians in Ghana.

Opportunities for growth, institutional encouragement, requirements for promotion, and opportunities for research training are some of the factors that motivated academic librarians to publish in scholarly journals notwithstanding the pressures to perform their professional duties. Challenges often encountered included lack of research grants, high rejection rate of publishing agencies, lack of research skills and difficulty in getting access to research journals.

On the basis of the above, the establishment of research fund and an award scheme for persons or units with the highest number of publications among others are recommended.

With the exception of cited works, all other forms of this research output are the handiwork of the researchers and have neither been a reproduction of existing research nor ever published in any other journal.

The purpose of this study is to x-ray the issues surrounding the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) in libraries from the perspective of developing countries.

This study theoretically reviewed the adoption of IoT in libraries in developing countries.

This study revealed context-based factors such as technological, organizational, environmental and security/privacy factors as determinants of IoT adoption in libraries of developing countries.

The value of this study arises from the need to study the adoption of technological innovation such as the IotT from the lens of developing countries and proffer solution to its associated challenges.

University intellectual output such as theses and dissertations are valuable resources containing rigorous research results. Library staff who are key players in promoting intellectual output through institutional repositories require skills to promote content visibility, create wider outreach and facilitate easy access and use of these resources. This study aims to determine the skills of library staff to enhance the visibility of intellectual output in federal university libraries in southeast Nigeria.

A survey research design was adopted for the study. The questionnaire was used to obtain responses from library staff on the extent of computer skills and their abilities for digital conversion, metadata creation and preservation of digital content.

Library staff at the university libraries had high skills in basic computer operations. They had moderate skills in digital conversion, preservation and storage. However, they had low skills in metadata creation.

The study has implications for addressing the digital skills and professional expertise of library staff, especially as it concerns metadata creation, digital conversion, preservation and storage. It also has implications for the university management to prioritize the training of their library staff in other to increase the visibility of indigenous resources and university Web ranking.

This study serves as a lens to identify library staff skill gaps in many critical areas that require expertise and stimulate conscious effort toward developing adequate skills for effective digital information provision. It sheds light on the challenges that many Nigerian university libraries face in their pursuit of global visibility and university Web ranking.

This study aims to assess the digital literacy of African library and information science (LIS) professionals. Digital literacy skills are required in the digital library environment.

Relevant literature was reviewed on this topic; previous study questionnaires, various university LIS curriculum, content analysis and job advertising were used for preparing the survey questionnaire. This study used an ex post facto research design. Purposive sampling was adopted in this study, and data were collected from Google form by sharing the research questionnaire by hyperlink which was undertaken from March 15, 2022 to May 24, 2022. The data were collected by a structured questionnaire. A four-point Likert scale was used to measure how library professionals acquired digital literacy skills. Content analysis of more than 500 job vacancies over the past three years (2018–2022) of library job advertisements was taken randomly.

This study’s findings show that the majority of the good at basic level of digital literacy skills at the same time have less in advanced digital literacy skills. The finding of this study shows the majority of them have to upgrade and learn about advanced digital literacy skills.

This study recommends adopting a new syllabus and updating a LIS curriculum based on the library’s technological development. Furthermore, this study’s potential result suggests more practical classes instead of theoretical study and it is useful to the library schools, associations, MOOC providers and lifelong learners.

This study is conducted with 102 African library professionals from 13 countries. This study discusses futuristic digital literacy skills and basic literacy skills. This study is beneficial to those who are preparing a new curriculum in LIS fields.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the growth of academic librarians’ research output in Nigeria; it examined their research productivity and determined the authorship pattern and degree of collaboration.

A total of 1,106 articles were retrieved from Current index to Journals in Education and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstract databases for the period 2000-March 2018.

The study revealed that only few authors are productive in the field of Library and Information Science in Nigeria during the period under study. The author productivity pattern is, therefore, in agreement with Lotka’s Law of inverse square. Top journals in which the academic librarians in Nigeria publish their works were identified. Of the 153 recognized universities in Nigeria, the study revealed that only few universities are productive. The years 2011 and 2012 recorded the highest contributions by the academic librarians. The findings also showed a high level of teamwork with most publications being produced jointly.

The limitation of this study is that it only retrieved articles that were indexed by Current index to Journals in Education and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstract. Secondly, articles published by the academic librarians in local journals in Nigeria that are not indexed and not visible are not included in the study.

The findings call for researchers in developing countries to recognize that it is important to publish a substantial number of papers in journals that are indexed and are widely visible.