The study investigated the contributions of digital and media literacies to knowledge sharing among school library personnel in Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted for the study while a questionnaire was used to collect data from the 190 respondents that constitute the sample size for the study. Findings from the study revealed a high level of digital and media literacy skills possessed by the school library personnel surveyed. Producing information, evaluating digital information, and finding digital were major media and digital information literacy skills that significantly contributed to knowledge sharing among the school library personnel. The study recommended that adequate attention should be given to the development of digital and media literacies of school library personnel in Nigeria to ensure effective and efficient knowledge sharing.
This study adopted the descriptive survey research method. The population of this study comprised of the hearing impaired students in selected government secondary schools in Rivers state. The population of hearing impaired students in Rivers State is 257. A simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 159. A self-developed instrument titled “Availability and Utilization of Library Information Resources Questionnaire (AULIRQ)” was utilized for data collection. 153 responses were collated, indicating a 96.2% response rate. The data collected was arranged and analyzed using frequency count, percentages, and mean and standard deviation. Finding reveals that information resources in the libraries understudied were inadequate and under-utilized. Also, it was established that among other barriers, under-funding is a major barrier to making information resources available for the physically challenged. It was recommended that schools offering special education for the hearing impaired should pace up in their developmental gap by providing such resources and ensure adequate funding by all stakeholders.
The new age is characterised by information communication technology, where computers, laptops, mobile gadgets such as palmtops, tablets, mobile phones and the internet have made their way to every sphere of life from our domestic environments such a homes, small retail shops, banks to large industries and the world at large. Over time, so many questions about the ethical use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have emerged on who has access to what technology and the use of it and like every other technological invention. This paper will look at the morality involved in making use of ICT to promote ethical use of data or information in a virtual environment. ICT also possesses both positive and negative impacts; the questions that these impacts raise are what this piece attempts to answer, providing global scrutiny to these ethical issues, situations and questions; and providing recommendations in line with global best practices.
This research paper presents the use of different forms of literature by the PhD researchers of the Department of Political Science and the Department of Public Administration, Punjabi University, Patiala. It is assessed by analyzing the resources cited in the PhD theses awarded by Punjabi University, Patiala during 2015-2019. The different bibliographic forms of the references have been analyzed in order to find out the year-wise submission, average citations per thesis, authorship pattern, chronology, use of electronic resources, and format of citations in both the subjects under study. It has been found in this study that average citations per thesis in Political Science is more (200.53) than Public Administration (160.6). Books are most preferred form in both the subjects. Majority of the citations in both the subjects are from the period 2000-2009. Ranked list of journals for both the subjects have been prepared to identify core journals. The core journals in both the subjects are 9. Bradford Multipliers have been calculated and application of Bradford Law of Scattering has also been tested for both the subjects. It is expected that the present study will help librarians in selecting, retaining and cancelling the existing journals in Political Science and Public Administration.
This study aims to evaluate some academic institutional repositories (IRs) in Ghana. Data were collected using observation and interview methods by examining the various websites of seven (7) selected academic institutional repositories in Ghana. The findings revealed that the University of Ghana, Legon, leads records count of the seven Institutional Repository (IRs) examined. Dspace was the prioritized software for managing and preserving the digital contents of these IRs. Theses, dissertations and research articles were the leading contents deposited on the IRs. The majority of the IRs have incorporated RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) feeds on their IRs with few using other Web 2.0 features. English was the only interface language used on all the IRs. From the interview, the findings revealed that most of the faculty members did not use the IR very often and 9(42.9) also indicated that, they have never deposited their materials on the IR. Faculty members again indicated that, inadequate ICT connectivity and infrastructure, unreliable power supply, Copyrights and intellectual rights, financial constrain, inadequate advocacy and training on the importance of IRs to faculty and users were the major challenges of academic libraries in operating IRs in Ghana.
The study investigated digital literacy skills and utilization of online platforms for teaching by LIS educators in universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study was undertaken as a descriptive survey design. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided this study. The population of the study was twenty-six Lecturers from the three universities in Rivers State where library and information science are offered. The twenty-six constitute the sample size. Census sampling technique was adopted for the study. The instrument titled Digital Literacy Skills and Utilization of Online Platform for Teaching Questionnaire (DLSOPUQ) was used to elicit information from the respondents. Twenty-six copies of the questionnaire were administered and retrieved. Mean (x̅) was used to analyze the research questions and the null hypotheses was tested with t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that there is no significant difference between digital literacy and utilization of online platforms for teaching by LIS educators in universities in Rivers State. Further findings revealed that LIS educators do not have the necessary skills to navigate the online environment for teaching without assistance. In conclusion LIS educators should be innovative and update their skills to meet up with global practice. It was recommended among others that LIS educators should be trained and retrained by the university management to cope with online teaching and provision of the right infrastructure by governments for effectives teaching and learning process.
The study investigated the challenges of recruitment and selection process of librarians in federal university libraries in South-South, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey. The population of the study consists of 108 librarians. 95 copies of the questionnaire were filled and returned. The questionnaire was used in collecting data. The overall reliability of the instrument yielded 0.95 with the use of Cronbach Alpha Coefficient. Standard deviation and mean was used to generate the data that was gathered. The rating scale of 4 points was subjected to an estimation procedure using SPSS version 17.0. A mean score of 2.5 and above on any item was accepted. The findings revealed that the librarians identified the challenges to include ethnicity influence; favouritisms; recruitment based on godfatherism; dwindling budgetary allocation. The librarians also identified some of the strategies to include performance at interview as benchmark; equity and fairness as benchmark; recruitment should be done according to relevant discipline; and having channels for reporting cases of corruption during recruitment. Based on the above findings the study recommended among others that recruitment and selection of qualified librarians should be done according to the laid down procedures.
This study attempted to grasp the current status of field training in the Department of Library and Information Science and the training institutions of the students of the Department of Library and Information Science and to propose a development plan based on this. To this end, a questionnaire survey and survey were conducted on the status of field practice in the Department of Library and Information Science at 4-year and 2-year colleges. As a result of the study, first, it was analyzed that field training has an effect on the employment competitiveness and employment competency of students, and the field training environment has an effect on career decisions of students in the Department of Library and Information Science. Second, it was found that the library with the most field training was found to be a public library, and it was investigated that in order to allow students to experience various institutions and choose their career path, it was necessary to jointly discover and use field training institutes. Third, the evaluation contents or evaluators of the field training did not show a big difference by school, and it was found that most universities are evaluating the field practice using various scales. Lastly, in order to maintain the level of on-the-job training to some extent, it is necessary to develop a training manual and distribute it to each university.
Perceptions of Library and Information (LI) professionals in Nigeria and the impact of COVID-19 on libraries, librarians and library services, were studied. The significance of demographic factors on LI professionals’ perception of COVID-19 and its impact on libraries was tested. Descriptive survey design and Purpose sampling technique were adopted. LIS professionals in Nigeria constituted the population, and an online questionnaire designed by the researchers through Microsoft Forms was used. Descriptive analysis of respondents’ demographic data and their covid-19 perception were presented in frequencies and percentages using tables while multivariate regression technique was used to test the significance of relationship between variables at P < 0.05. Findings revealed that many (61.4%) of the respondents agreed that COVID-19 is real but have personal reservations. However, 47.5% indicated that COVID-19 is a scientific invention. On the impacts of COVID-19 on libraries, the study found that COVID-19 is a game changer that will enhance the creation of new services by libraries, cause the reconfiguration of library space for safe operations in post-COVID, establishment of new rules and regulations, and more reliance on e-resources. On the test of association, educational qualification of respondents had a significant impact on respondents’ perceptions that COVID-19 will reduce the use of library print resources (P-value = 0.005, B: 0.38, [95% CI: 0.115 – 0.646]) and that library will create new services to address the changes caused by COVID-19. Also, educational qualification of respondents significantly influenced respondents’ perception that COVID-19 is real. The study recommends that libraries should take advantage of the season to innovate, and that public health institutions should continually educate people on corona virus to disabuse people’s mind of conspiracy theories.
This study examined e-resources usage among polytechnic students in Southwest Nigeria. A descriptive research design was adopted for this study and the population consisted of polytechnic students from The Polytechnic, Ibadan and Federal Polytechnic, Ede. There were 9671 students from both polytechnics. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed with a sample fraction of 5% was drawn from the total number of students in each faculty amounting to 381. A structured questionnaire was the major instrument used for data collection and the questionnaire was pre-tested using Cronbach-alpha to determine the reliability co-efficient. Data obtained was analyzed using SPSS. The study found that the students from both polytechnics are aware of the e-resources and that the e-resources were mainly used for research, class assignment and to update knowledge. The problem such as epileptic power supply, poor internet connection and so on was identified. The study concluded that polytechnic students could benefit immensely from the enormous usage of e-resources particularly for teaching, learning and research. Based on the findings, recommendations were made.
In this study, in line with the era of the fourth industrial revolution, general concepts, technologies, trends, and examples of virtual reality and augmented reality were examined, and based on this, a plan that could be applied to libraries in the future was proposed. As a result of the study, first, it is necessary to construct a smart space as an experiential play space that can satisfy cultural desires transcending time and space by providing immersive contents using 4th technology such as VR and AR. Second, it is necessary to expand experiential cultural support services through VR, AR and MR. Third, to develop educational contents based on augmented reality technology. In order to apply and activate virtual reality and augmented reality in libraries in the future, based on a survey of librarians and users of public libraries, a survey on the application status, satisfaction, and demand of current public libraries should be conducted.
This informetrics study was conducted to find out the distribution of articles and authors that published in African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Studies [AJLAIS]) from 2009 to 2018; considering the year-wise growth of research articles; authorship pattern and collaboration ratio; subject and geographical distributions of authors; and authors’ productivity level. A descriptive informetrics research design was adopted. Quota sampling technique was used to select all the articles published within the ten-year period. Data collected through a self-designed checklist was analyzed using frequency count and percentage. The findings revealed that 141 articles, contributed by 266 authors were published by AJLAIS during the period. An annual average growth of 1.20% was recorded. Overall year-wise authorship pattern revealed that majority of articles (62.41%) published in AJLAIS were multiple authored. Also, articles on Informetrics and ICT dominated the journal. Some subject areas not covered were identified such as: indexing and serial collections management. Average collaborative index across the 10-year period for the journal was 0.62. South Africa and Nigeria were the two major prolific contributors to AJLAIS, just as evidence-based research papers of survey type (65.25%) were the most common to the journal. There should be increased numbers of articles in each edition over the coming years, and awareness should be created by the publishers to familiarize the researchers with the publishing requirements of the journal. Also, LIS researchers should concentrate more on areas usually left untouched by previous studies. The study is original as no other similar study was found on publication pattern of articles in AJLAIS covering a ten year period of 2009-2018. The findings of the study will also serve as a feedback mechanism for the Publisher of the Journal and LIS researchers on how to improve the journal and LIS research in general.
The paper aims to present a comparative analysis of scholarly research output in the fields of Library and Information Science (LIS) in India and South Korea. The Web of Science database was used to retrieve the bibliographic data of the Indian and South Korean LIS published documents during 2001–2020 and the indicators were included in the analysis: research productivity, publication-quality, most prolific authors, institutions and journals, “Annual Growth Rate (AGR)”, “Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)”, “Relative Growth Rate (RGR)”, and “Doubling Time (DT)”. All types of documents such as articles, conference papers, book reviews, corrections, editorial materials, so on were included in the study. MS Excel, VOS viewer, and bibliometrix (R-tool) software were used for tabulation and mapping. The results show that South Korea placed the top in the overall output of LIS research publications during the last two decades. The Indian LIS research output, Annual Growth Rate (AGR), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) were good compared to South Korean LIS publications. In addition, the South Korean LIS researchers’ output has increased rapidly in terms of publications, citations, average citations. Gangan Prathap (India), Seyoung Lee, and Heejin Lee (SK) are the most prolific authors; Indian Institute Technology, Delhi and Yonsei University, Seoul are the most prolific institutions; and the Scientometrics journal was the most preferred journal by the Indian and South Korean LIS researchers during the study period. The results of this study are useful to administrators, policymakers, and academics. In addition, the scope of this study might include looking at research published by LIS scholars in India and South Korea, as well as examining all types of academic publications.
Currently, it is not easy for most domestic public libraries to collect and provide reliable health information services on their own. Health information is distributed or professional, making it inconvenient for users to use. Based on the implications derived from the case study, the Library Health Information Integration Service Model was proposed as a specialized information service. The model consists of a composition shared by librarians, health and medical experts, and users, focusing on library websites that provide integrated health information integration services, and has the following features. First, it provides health and medical information on a specialized subject. Second, it provides integrated health and medical information services provided in various ways. Third, librarians and health and medical experts work together to provide information services. Fourth, users can freely use health information integration services online and offline. The model presented in this study means that libraries can play a leading role in health information integration services to increase the utilization rate of public libraries and further contribute to librarians serving as experts in health information services.
These papers surveyed the respondents' Awareness and perception of Plagiarism among the Faculty members and research scholars of higher educational institutions in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu. The 500 questionnaires were distributed among the participants, 456 questionnaires were filled and returned for usable by the respondents and remaining not replied. The responses rate is 91.2%. Further among 222 Male respondents, 11.18% of them are having Aware, 10.75% of them in Learning, 10.53% are with Fair and 76(16.23%) of them are Expert. Similarly out of 234 Female respondents, 16.45% of them has No Idea, 7.02% of them have Aware, 10.09% of them in Learning, 8.99% are with Fair and 8.77% of them are Expert.
Media utilization in colleges of education in Nigeria is compulsory to train pre-service teachers. Psychological variables (emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy) and media improvisation were investigated on media resources utilization among lecturers in colleges of education in the South-West, Nigeria. The descriptive design was adopted and multi-staged procedure was used to select 812 (493 males; 319 females). Emotional intelligence (r = 0.79), media improvisation (r = 0.71), self-efficacy (r = 0.85 and media resources utilization r = 0.96) scales were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment at 0.05 level of significance. The level of emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and media improvisation were high. Significant relationship existed among: emotional intelligence (r = 0.42), Media improvisation (r = 0.46) and Teaching self-efficacy (r = 0.31) to media resources utilization. It recommended that lecturers’ emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and media improvisation are to be promoted in colleges of education.
This study would understand the overall perception of our society about public libraries, analyzing the texts related to public libraries, utilizing the semantic connection network & sentiment analysis. For this purpose, this study collected data from the last five years with keywords, ‘Library’ and ‘Lifelong Learning Center’ from January 1, 2016 through November 30, 2020 through the blogs and cafés of major domestic portal sites. With the collected data, text mining, centrality of keywords, network structure, structural equipotentiality, and sensitivity analyses were conducted. As a result of the analysis, First, ‘reading’ and ‘book’ were identified as representative keywords that form the social perception of public libraries. Second, it turned out that there were keywords related to the use of the library and the untact service due to the recent spread of COVID-19. Third, in seeking a plan for the development of public libraries through the keywords drawn to have positive meanings, it is necessary to create continuous services that can form a new image of the library, breaking away from the existing fixed role and image of the library and increase the convenience of use. Fourth, facilities and facilities for library services were recognized from a neutral point of view. Fifth, the spread of infectious diseases, social distancing, and temporary closure and closure of libraries are negatively related to public libraries, and awareness of librarians has been identified as negative keywords.
The study presents a global research scenario in the domain of quantum sensing in quantitative and qualitative terms. The study is based on an analysis of 588 global publications in the field, sourced from the Scopus database for the period 1991-2020. The study identified key countries, organizations and authors, network collaborative linkages at national, institutional, and author level. In addition, it identified broad subject areas intersecting quantum sensing research, key journals for research communications, and broad characteristics of highly-cited papers. The study finds that the USA and Germany lead the world ranking in quantum sensing research with a combined share of 50% to the global output. The USA, Germany, and Italy are the home countries to 13 of the top 15 most productive organizations, and also the home countries to 14 of the top 15 most productive authors in the subject. The top journals publishing most research publications are Physical Review A, Physical Review Letters and New Journal of Physics. However, in the most cited journals list in the subject, Agriculture & Forest Meterology, Science and Physical Review A tops the list.
Media improvisation among lecturers in colleges is inevitable because of insufficient media resources for utilization. The study investigated media improvisation in the state -owned colleges of education in the South-West, Nigeria. The study is anchored on Media Richness Theory. Stratified sampling technique was adopted to select 812 lecturers. Media improvisation scale (r = .71) was used for data collection and T-test statistical method was adopted for data analysis. The result showed that there was no significant differences between media improvisation of Art/Social Science and Science lecturers (Crit – t = 1.96, Cal. t = 821, df = 278, p>.05) and that of lecturers in the School of Art/Social Sciences and Vocational/Technical Education (Crit. t = 1.96, Cal. t = .136, df = 276, p>.05). Significant difference did not exit between that of the Schools of Languages and Education (Crit. t = 1.96, Cal. t = 1.946, dif. = 288 p
With the proliferation of activity-tracking devices and other smart tools, more users leverage these personal informatics technologies to track their physical and fitness-related activities. The research on the benefits (and limitations) of these devices tends to focus on the use of a single tool, leaving out the interactions among multiple technologies, and how these interactions influence the way users perceive their affordances. Building from an ecological perspective, I extend this research by providing insight into the competitive and complementary relationships among activity tracking devices and other fitness-related and personal informatics technologies within the device ecology of technologies around the user. The affordances of these devices are therefore not enacted in isolation but are relational to understanding of other technological options and differing personal preferences and goals of the user.
