APPLICATION OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) FOR EFFECTIVE USER EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN SOUTH EAST, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This work is designed to examine the application of Information and communication Technologies (ICTs) for effective user education programme in federal university libraries in South East Nigeria. The study was guided by seven research questions in line with the objectives of the study which include; to ascertain the types of ICT facilities available for effective user education programme; find out methods used for the application of ICT facilities for effective user education programme; find out the extent to which ICT facilities are applied to the user education programme for effective programme delivery; determine the extent of ICT skills possessed by librarians for user education programme; determine the extent to which ICT contributes to effective user education programmes in the libraries; identify the challenges associated with the use of ICT for effective user education programme; suggest the strategies that could enhance the application of ICT for effective user education programme in federal university libraries in South East, Nigeria.The design adopted for this study is descriptive survey research design and all the librarians with at least first degree in librarianship who are staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Federal University of Technology Owerri libraries made up the population of the study. The population of the study in the three libraries is 12, 52 and 32 respondents respectively. Purposive sampling technique was adopted. The sample size of the study consisted of 96 librarians. Data were collected using observation checklist and the questionnaire.  The instruments were validated by 3 experts in the department of library and information science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The data was collect with the use of structured questionnaire from the 96 librarian in the university libraries with an observation carried out by the researcher. The data collected were analyzed using mean, percentages, tables and frequency counts. The results show that ICT resources are Available and in Use for user education programmes in these federal university libraries under study; The result also shows that the methods adopted for the application of ICTs in user education programmes in the university libraries included seminar, lectures, Demonstration, virtual Tour, Orientation, Guides, etc; ICTs are applied in user education programmes of the libraries understudy to a great extent; circulation staff possessed high skills in the application of ICTs in user education programmes; ICTs contribute to a very great extent in effective user education programme in the university libraries under study; that there are numerous constraints and strategies that could be employed for enhancing the application of ICTs in user education programmes in the libraries under study. The study recommended thatUniversity administration should create effective ICT awareness and orientation programmes for undergraduates and post graduate both old and newly admitted students; Government should endeavor to provide adequate funds for procurement of ICT facilities for university libraries to enhance automation of user education programme; the university management should engage the librarians on continuous ICT training through organized seminars and workshops; library management and librarians should develop maintenance culture as to retain the value of the procured facilities and that the conventional librarians should be closely monitored on how they use ICTs in library operation to avoid abuse of those facilities.