Google Tools at the Disposal of Librarians and skills for the Enhancement of Library Services: A Conceptual Review (Published)
In recent time, there has been the emergence of cloud computing, the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer which allows numerous clients to use the same platform at the same time without any interference from any point online. The king of this practice is the Google cloud computing that paved way for the creation of the famous online Google workspace that houses many Google tools. This paper holistically takes a look at this Google Workplace and the surrounding Tools. The paper analytically discussed the various tools such as Gmail, Chat, Meet, Calendar, Drive for storage; Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and Google Scholar among others and where and how they can be applied and utilized by librarians and libraries towards enhancing their services to their heterogeneous users in a digital ecosystem as well as the skills librarians need to acquire for optimal utilization of the Google Workplace and the surrounding products. At the end of it all, the paper drew its conclusion and suggested among other things that Librarians with the support of library management should be trained on how to manage and utilize to the fullest various Google Tools and that all university library websites should be Google connect as to have all staff create a Gmail account with which they can access all Google products and the library should as well create corporate Gmail account and link with which all staff should be mandated to utilize Google Scholar tool to enhance the university visibility online and quick staff identity verification.
Keywords: Gmail, Google tools, Google workplace, Google+, Information and Communication Technology, Librarians, Library, Library Services
An Empirical study of Librarians and Libraries as drivers of access to Knowledge in Ebonyi State, Nigeria (Published)
The library from inception plays a very crucial role in the extension and modification of knowledge. The growing need for knowledge management has influenced every component and operation of a library. This is built on the fact that it is only by transmission of knowledge by each succeeding generation can civilization maintain itself and make advance upon the knowledge of the past. The individual and social meaning of education can only take place on the backdrop of beliefs and values of a particular social setting. In both, the library has a crucial role to play. The library we know is a social system that stores and disseminates information which is knowledge. This paper therefore is an empirical study of Librarians and libraries as drivers of access to knowledge using Ebonyi State, Nigeria as a case in point. This researcher applied a descriptive study method with a sampled population of 138 randomly selected from the different libraries in the State. The study investigated ways through which librarians and libraries operate as drivers of access to knowledge as well as the various challenges encountered by librarians that militate against their optimal performance as drivers of access to knowledge. The study also identified ways of enhancing the role of Librarians and libraries as drivers of access to knowledge. The instrument for the study was structured according to the modified Likert scale on four point rating scale. On this scale, the average mean cut off is 2.50. To this end, an item is accepted if it is 2.50 and above and rejected if it is below 2.50. Statistically, frequencies, percentages and mean scores were used to compute the data collected that led to the decision rule.
Keywords: Human development, Information and Communication Technology, Knowledge, Library, access to information, librarian
Level of Availability and Utilization of Information and Communication Technology Facilities by Students: A Case Study of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State Nigeria (Published)
This paper is an attempt to evaluate the availability and utilization of Information and Communication (ICT) facilities by students in Federal Polytechnic Library, and also challenges the academic library faces in the area of adoption and utilization of ICT in their service delivery. Questionnaire survey approach was adopted. Primary data were collected with the aid of a four point likert scale questionnaire. Questionnaires were administered to Students of the study area. The Population for the Students at Federal Polytechnic Nekede is 870 which was obtained from the Universities’ Information and Communication Technology block (ICT, 2017). The sample size is 290. The sampling technique used here is stratified simple random. To guarantee the reliability of the instrument, it was administered on ten(10)participants out of the envisaged population of the study. A test-retest reliability method of two weeks interval was conducted, response obtained were subjected to Pearson Product Moment Correlation method and a reliability co-efficient of 0.78 was obtained. To analyze data on the research questions of the study the researcher used descriptive statistical mean. The hypothesis was tested using the chi-square (x2) which is a statistical tool to test hypothesis about the relationship between means of groups. It was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that scanning machines, printer, CD-ROM, Computer, Flash Drives, Land Area Network (LAN) and Inverter were available but few. Also the majority of the students indicated that they use ICT to retrieve information (3.1), make research(3.1), disseminate information (3.0) chat with friends (3.1) and download files (3.0). Challenges such as unreliable telecommunication network (3.3) insecurity in the library (3.3) epileptic power supply (3.3) unreliable internet (3.0) and high cost of ICT hardware/software were identified as major challenges of availability and utilization of ICT in the school’s academic library. It was recommended however that these challenges be looked into both by the institution and government in order to address the challenges.
Keywords: Academic Library, Education, ICT, Information and Communication Technology, Nigeria, Students, Utilization