SOURCE:

Faculty: Education
Department: Library And Information Science

CONTRIBUTORS:

Emezie, N. A.
Anunobi, C. V.

ABSTRACT:

Digitization is a means through which university libraries respond to the demand for faster delivery of information. Yet the slow pace of digitization in Nigerian university libraries challenges access to digital information resources. However, library staff knowledge of the ICT skills required for digitization will go a long way to facilitate access to digital resources. This study was carried out to investigate library staff in federal universities in South East, Nigeria to find out their knowledge of the ICT skills required for digitization of information resources. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Five research questions and ten hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance were formulated to guide the study. The population comprised of 353 professional and paraprofessional library staff in the five federal universities in South East Nigeria. The instrument for data collection was a Test on Knowledge of ICT skills for digitization. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Percentage was employed to answer the research questions while z-test was used to test the hypotheses. Findings of the study showed that a good number of the library staff in federal university libraries in South East Nigeria have good knowledge of computer (i.e word processing) skills required for digitization. On the other hand, a good number of the staff have poor knowledge of scanning, editing, document analysis and archival skills required for digitization of information resources. The study concludes that library staff do not have knowledge of all the ICT skills required for digitization of information resources. The findings of the study has implication on the university library in provision of digital resources that meet current and changing needs of users. However, the study recommends training to strengthen knowledge of ICT skills of library staff in order to improve their abilities for managing digital resources and, a review of the LIS curriculum to align with prevailing ICT skills needs in the current library environment.