TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page —————————————————————————— i
Approval page ————————————————————————- ii
Certification—————————————————————————- iii
Dedication —————————————————————————– iv
Acknowledgement ——————————————————————– v
Table of contents ———————————————————————- vi
List of tables ————————————————————————– viii
Abstract ——————————————————————————- ix
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION ——————————————————– 1
Background of the
Study———————————————————— 1
Statement of the
Problem ———————————————————— 5
Purpose of the Study —————————————————————- 6
Research Questions——————————————————————- 7
Significance of the
Study ———————————————————— 8
Scope of the Study——————————————————————- 9
CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW ——————————————— 10
Conceptual Framework ————————————————————- 10
Concept of Information and communication technology (ICT)———– 10
ICT availability in
academic libraries ———————————————– 18
ICT utilization in
academic libraries ———————————————— 22
Areas of ICT
utilization in academic libraries ————————————– 25
Library staff
perception on ICT—————————————————– 29
Problems associated
with ICT utilization in academic libraries ——————– 29
Strategies for effective ICT utilization in academic libraries—————- 31
Review of empirical
studies——————————————————— 32
Summary of Literature
Review —————————————————– 40
CHAPTER THREE:
RESEARCH METHODS —————————————— 41
Research Design ——————————————————————– 41
Area of the Study —————————————————————— 41
Population of the
Study ———————————————————— 41
Sample and Sampling
Techniques————————————————— 42
Instruments for Data
Collection —————————————————- 42
Validation of the
Instruments——————————————————- 43
Method of Data
Collection ——————————————————— 43
Method of Data
Analysis ———————————————————– 43
CHAPTER FOUR:
PRESENTATION OF DATA ————————————— 45
Summary of the
findings———————————————————————— 54
CHAPTER FIVE:
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ——————————- 55
Discussion————————————————————————— 55
Implication of the
study ———————————————————— 60
Recommendations —————————————————————— 62
Suggestions for
further study —————————————————— 63
Conclusion————————————————————————– 64
References ————————————————————————– 65
Appendix 1————————————————————————– 72
Appendix 2————————————————————————– 73
Appendix 3
———————————————————————————–80
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Percentage responses
of the library staff on ICT resources available
and their nature in the libraries under study ——————————– 45
Table 2: Observation
checklist of the ICT resources available in the libraries
under study —————————————————————— 46
Table 3: Library staff
responses on extent of ICT resources utilization in the
Libraries under study——————————————————— 47
Table 4: Percentage responses
of the library staff on areas where ICTs are
utilize in Colleges of Education libraries in Kano state ———————- 49
Table 5: Library staff
responses on their perception with the ICT
resources in their libraries—————————————————– 50
Table 6: Mean responses of the library staff on the problems associated with the use of ICT facilities in their libraries—————————————– 5
Table 7: Mean responses of the library staff on the strategies for the enhancement of ICT resources in their libraries———————————— 53
ABSTRACT
This study was designed to
determine the availability and utilization of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) facilities in Colleges of Education Libraries in Kano state, Nigeria. The objectives were to
identify the ICT facilities available, the extent of their utilization in
information service delivery, determine the sections and units they were used,
to determine the library staffs perceptions on ICT resources, identify the
problems associated with ICT facilities utilization in colleges of education
libraries in Kano state and suggest strategies that will enhance the effective
ICT facilities utilization. The six objectives of the study were formed as the
six research questions. The instruments used for the data collection of the
study are questionnaire and observation checklist. Percentage and mean (x) were
used for the data analysis. The major findings of the study revealed that: out
of 20 ICT facilities believed to be readily available and properly utilize for
information dissemination only 12 were available in which 3 are not functional
out of available ones and 8 are not available. The available ones include: –
computers, printers, scanners, photocopiers, intercom, internet and telephone lines.
And out of these facilities available intercom, internet and telephone lines
are not functional. It is recommended that ICT policy should be formulated,
government should provide more funds to the Colleges of Education Libraries,
College authorities should provide more funds to the Colleges of Education
libraries, College librarians should engage into legal businesses and
consultancy services to generate more funds to their libraries. Adequate ICT
facilities should be provided.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The task of providing information to the academic
community in tertiary institutions like that of Colleges of Education has been
the mandate the library has had to perform over the years. Colleges of
Education libraries were purposely attached to the colleges in order to meet
the objectives of the institutions by providing them with the relevant
information resources that can support the teaching, learning and research
process. For libraries to perform these roles smoothly, effectively,
efficiently and in accordance with users needs within and outside the
buildings, they have to make Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS)
readily available and properly utilized. In light of the above, the need for
colleges of education libraries to provide and use ICTs for information service
delivery to their users is fundamental. It is fundamental because the libraries
are regarded as the heart of their parent institutions, and they are also
recognized as the medium through which colleges of education can achieve their
set objectives.
The prime function of any academic library is to provide
the most needed and up to date information materials that will support
teaching, learning and research .Today libraries especially colleges of
education libraries are confronted with intricate and constantly developing net
work of knowledge. And they are existing in world where the use of ICTs has
became essential to progress towards more efficient information service
delivery. According to Adewale and
Adesanya( 2003) the manual method of
acquisition, organization , maintenance ,documentation circulation of other
library materials and other services involves a lot of paper work and skilled
man power of labour which is tedious, time consuming and prune to error. It is
usually leads to unnecessary delays in fulfilling its services to library
units.
As the library records became larger and keep on
increasing by day, the task of controlling the records will be mere difficult
and complex to handle manually. The situation therefore shows the extant need
to apply ICTS to solve the problems created by manual method in this era of
information explosion in the acquisition, processing and management of library
resources as well as the satisfaction of users need.
There are three (3) Colleges of Education in Kano State;
Federal College of Education Kano, Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi
and Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education. The two Federal Colleges of Education
in Kano State
were established by the Decree No. 4 of 21st March, 1986 which
established Federal Colleges of Education in Nigeria by Military Government. In
the same direction a body known as National Commission for Colleges of
Education (NCCE) was also established by Decree No. 3 of April 1989. The
commission’s responsibilities among others includes controlling, co-ordinating
and supervising NCE programmes run by both Federal and State Colleges
of Education. By the promulgation of the Decree No. 4 of 1986, Federal College
of Education (Technical) Bichi started in November 1987. While Federal College
of Education Kano which replaced Advanced Teachers College Kano, under Ahmadu Bello
University Abu Zaira then began in 1990. The Kano State College of Education
known as Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education was established earlier in 1981 by
the Kano State Ministry of Education.
The primary objective of establishing colleges of education
was to train and produce professional teachers who will teach in primary
schools with a minimum qualification of National Certificate of Education
(NCE). However, these noble objectives of the colleges that involve research,
teaching and learning activities could only be achieved, if their libraries are
well equipped with ICT facilities for effective information service delivery
which in turn will simplify research, teaching and learning processes.
Therefore, it
becomes necessary for academic libraries such as colleges of education
libraries to provide enough ICT facilities that could be properly utilized for
information service delivery. By so doing academic libraries could maintain
their credibility in the provision of library services for research, teaching
and learning process. Several attempts have been made by different authors to
define information and communication technology (ICT). Aina (2004) defined ICT
as the technology used in handling acquiring, processing, storing and
disseminating information. He further stated that ICT consist of computers,
online searching, CD-ROMs, internet etc. In 1983, the American Library
Association (as cited in Jane, 2000) stated that ICT is the application of
computers and other technologies to the acquisition, organization, storage,
retrieval and dissemination, of information.
According to Fagbanmi
and Ogunjobi (2009), ICT is an umbrella term that includes all technologies
encompassing medium for recording information such as Magnetic disk, tape,
optical disks (CD/DVD) flash and paper record, technology for the broadcasting,
information, radio, television and technology for communicating through voice
and sound or image microphone camera, loudspeaker, telephone to cellular
phones. It also includes a wide variety of computing hardware, desktop
computers, laptops, storage devices etc. Omekwu (2007) see Information
Technology (IT) as the computer hardware, software that facilitates the,
storage, organizing processing and the retrieval of information. Omekwu further
defined communication technology (CT) as all other technologies that enable
humans to communicate and transmit information, such as radio, television and
telephone. This implies that IT and CT were integrated which developed to ICT,
that encompasses all technologies that enables man to record, organize retrieve
compute, communicate and transmit information.
From the foregoing
definitions given above one can define ICTs as electronic devices that
encompass CD-ROM, computer hardware and software, CD, Internet, radio,
television, disk, tape etc. that libraries and information centers manipulate
to facilitate recording, organizing, storage, retrieval, transmission and
dissemination of information within and outside their buildings.
The introduction of ICTs
in libraries dates as far back as 1950’s and 60’s in America
and Europe (Adeyomoye, 2008). It started in
form of automation projects where libraries tried to involve machines to help
perform some tasks that are hitherto handled by humans alone. It however made
its entry into Nigeria
in the 1970’s in form of automated projects. According to Nok cited in
Adeyomoye (2008) though information and communication technologies have been in
the pipeline since 1970 in Nigeria, concerted efforts towards its application
began in the late 1990’s mostly in academic libraries where it made its first
debut. Libraries were sensitized through lectures of the need to computerize
their operations. The new developments in the field of librarianship became so
popular among academic libraries to this moment. This is because of its
countless benefits to the libraries in every academic community.
The value of ICT is endless (Gama, 2008). ICTs not only
give the opportunity to have easy access to information from various sources,
but also facilitate resource sharing between and among various organizations
apart from improving the status of the
Library and Information Science profession. Gama further stated that, the
significance of ICTs in Nigerian libraries cannot be over-emphasized. However,
the application of the ICTs can be said to be low when compared with what is
happening in developed countries of the world. The importance of ICTs in
various aspects of library activities and service can be understood from the
above. But conscious efforts need to be done by the institutions to provide the
right ICTs in order to harness these benefits. Scholars recorded a lot of
benefits that library users can drive from the ICT facilities in the library.
Henderson (1992) identified some of these benefits or advantages as; provision
of speedy and easy access to information, provision of remote access to users,
provision of round-the-clock access to users, access to unlimited information
from different sources and providing more current information. Colleges of
Education libraries should do everything possible to provide ICTS facilities
for the benefits of their users.
There is need therefore to investigate the level of availability of these facilities and how the available ones are utilized, the departments/sections of their utilization, staff perception on the use of the facilities problems associated with their utilization and strategies that will enhance their utilization in order to serve the users academic community of the colleges of education in and around Kano State.
AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) FACILITIES IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION LIBRARIES IN KANO STATE NIGERIA
