TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page———————————————————————————————
i
Approval Page—————————————————————————————–
ii
Certification Page————————————————————————————iii
Dedication——————————————————————————————–iv
Acknowledgements———————————————————————————-v
Table of Contents———————————————————————————–vi
List of tables—————————————————————————————-viii
List of Figures—————————————————————————————-ix
Abstract———————————————————————————————–xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study———————————————————— 1
Statement
of the Problem———————————————————— 13
Purpose
of the Study—————————————————————– 14
Research
Questions —————————————————————— 15
Significance
of the Study ———————————————————– 15
Scope
of the Study —————————————————————— 16
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework————————————————————— 18
An overview of the concept of Internet ———————————————- 18
Facilities, Purposes and problems of internet adoption in University Libraries —— 22
Adoption practices of internet, internet availability and strategies for enhancement in university libraries. —————————————————– 24
Theoretical Framework ————————————————————— 26
Review of Related Empirical Studies ———————————————— 29
Summary of Literature Review ——————————————————- 38
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD
Research
Design ——————————————————————— 40
Area
of the Study ——————————————————————- 40
Population
of the Study————————————————————– 41
Sample
and sampling technique———————————————————41
Instrument
for Data Collection —————————————————— 42
Validation
of the instrument ————————————————————-42
Procedure
for Data Collection ——————————————————- 43
Method
of Data Analysis ———————————————————— 43
CHAPTHER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Data
Presentation and
Analysis———————————————————–44
Summary of major
findings——————————————————————64
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Discussion
of Findings
——————————————————————67
Implications
of Study——————————————————————–72
Recommendations————————————————————————–73
Suggestions
for Further Research——————————————————–74
Limitations——————————————————————————–74
Conclusions——————————————————————————-75
REFERENCES———————————————————————————–76
APPENDICES————————————————————————————82
LIST OF TABLES
Tables Pages
Table 1: Observations and
Percentages on Availability of Internet Facilities—————44
Table 2: Means on Methods
of Internet Adoption with standard deviation——————55
Table 3: Means on Purposes
of Internet Adoption with standard deviation —————–57
Table 4: Means on Factors influencing
Internet Adoption with standard deviation ——-60
Table 5: Means on problems Associated with Internet Adoption
in these Libraries,with standard deviation———————————————————-61
Table 6: Means
on Strategies for Enhancing internet adoption with
standard deviation -63
List of Figures
Figure 1: Bar Chart on Laptop facility——————————————–46
Figure 2: Bar Chart on Cybercafé facility ————————————47
Figure 3: Bar Chart on Virtual or Digital libraries facility ———————47
Figure 4: Bar Chart on Desktop Computer facility——————————48
Figure 5: Bar Chart on Institutional Website facility—————————–48
Figure 6: Bar Chart on Individual Website facility———————————-49
Figure 7: Bar Chart on Dial-up facility——————————————49
Figure 8: Bar Chart on Wireless-Fidelity facility ——————————-50
Figure 9: Bar Chart on Digital subscriber line (DSL) facility ———————50
Figure 10: Bar Chart on Integrated
service Digital Network (ISDN)
facility —————51
Figure 11: Bar Chart on Cable Modem facility——————————51
Figure 12: Bar Chart on Broadband internet facility————————–52
Figure 13: Bar Chart on worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAS) facility ————————————————————————52
Figure 14: Bar Chart on Satellite dish facility———————————53
Figure 15: Bar Chart on Cellular Broadband facility——————————53
Figure 16: Bar Chart on Fiber Optics Communication facility ————–54
Figure 17: Bar Chart on E-mail facility———————————————54
ABSTRACT
The
study investigated internet adoption in four federal university libraries in
South East Nigeria. Six research questions were raised to guide the study. The
study adopted survey design approach. The population comprises 30 principal
librarians and University librarians in the four federal University libraries
in South East Nigeria. A total of 27 copies of the questionnaire were returned.
Interview was conducted and observation was made on internet facilities to
determine the authenticity of the respondent’s responses. Findings reveal that
major internet facilities through which the libraries adopt internet include
laptops, cybercafé, institutional website, institutional virtual library,
desktop computers, wireless fidelity, cable modem, computer networking
(local/wide area network), broadband internet, satellite dish and E-mail. The
findings equally reveal that the major
purposes of internet adoption among others include sending and receiving
mail, chatting, reading news and sports information, downloading music,
researching for products and services, downloading images, searching for job
online, cataloguing, video conferencing,
sharing information, accessing information on any subject worldwide, accessing
online directories and encyclopedia, review of literature and research
investigation, sending research article for publication, sending and
receiving questionnaire online,
collecting research data through
interview, giving and receiving
information from users, giving and receiving information from vendors
and contacting government agencies and the minors include buying producing
online, playing game, banking online, telephone call, and listening to radio.
Based on the findings the study recommended that library management should try
to educate their staff especially librarians on internet facilities available
in the university libraries. It also recommends that internet adoption should be
included as part of the academic library services because that will provide
libraries the opportunity to guide students better. It will equally help to
ameliorate the damages on internet facilities.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
University libraries are storehouses of
knowledge, technological information centers and settings for research. They
are libraries that seek open access to all types of information and encourage
free intellectual inquiry. They are established to serve their parent
institutions –the universities. The
university libraries seek to provide her users information needed to prepare
them to make a positive contribution to the common good of society and to
extend knowledge through research. The libraries within the universities
provide bibliographic, physical, electronic and intellectual access to
information, enabling each academic unit to be recognized for its excellence in
teaching and for its scholarship and achievement. According to Onye (1998)
library’s main purpose is to promote effective academic action through making
knowledge available through efficient bibliographic control and through a rapid
and effective dissemination of information. The university libraries are part
of the university with the responsibility for selecting, acquiring, processing,
storing and disseminating needed information to meet the mandates of the
universities. University libraries are essential component of any university
education. The basic function of university libraries are to assist and support
the study, teaching, and research that go on in the universities. In this
effort, university libraries essentially aims to: capture and hold the interest
of the university community’s reading, to produce intelligence users with all
types of documents and to cultivate in users an appreciation of libraries as
important institutions to the universities. The university libraries provide
essential reading materials and documents, Chowdhury (2001).
University
libraries in Nigeria are focal point of higher education in Nigeria. According
to Aguolu (1996), since independence in 1960, there has been an unrelenting
upsurge in the establishment of educational institutions at all levels,
especially university education. Different governments of Nigeria continue to
invest strongly on education. It must be realized that university libraries,
being an integral academic parts of the universities, generally emerge
simultaneously with their parent institution. Hence there are as many university
libraries as there are universities. The increase in universities despite
economic recession in the country since 1980s has increased the problem of
Nigerian universities and their libraries so much that their future is
uncertain.
During
the “oil boom” era Nigeria University Libraries flourished tremendously such
that the shelves were filled with learning materials in order to sustain the
main point academic disciplines established by their parent universities. Today
the story has changed. Nigeria University Libraries have problems of
maintaining core collections which represent their universities’ curricula and
activities because of lack of money and high inflation. Coupled with this, is
the emergence of new technologies like the internet in the educational system
worldwide. Aguolu (1996) revealed that since the onset of the current recession
the governments have been giving the universities grants that are not
commensurate with their rapid growth in number of faculties, departments, staff
and students. The resultant under funding of the universities has become
perennial problem for Nigeria university libraries.
The
Nigeria university libraries of today should no longer be university libraries
of the 17th century image, they must be information oriented.
Osundina (1973) pointed out that the library of today should not merely store
documents and preserve them; it must also devise means by which the contents of
such documents can be rapidly and effectively transmitted for use. Information
has always played a very important part in human life. However, in the mid 20th
century the role of information increased immeasurably as a result of social
progress and the vigorous development in technologies. The pace of change
brought by these new technologies should have significant effect on the way Nigeria
university libraries operate. New and emerging technologies like the internet
challenge traditional process and the way they operate. Many Nigeria university
libraries have been exploiting the potential of internet.
It is becoming increasingly clear that
university libraries must embrace internet technology if they are to be the
heart of universities in the future. The
most important things for library users are quick services, full collection and
quick information on the required materials as well as getting access to world
information resources. The internet now offers the capability to find
everything man has created and put on the network and gets unlimited access to
a huge amount of information resources. Technological innovation and changing
information economies threatens radical changes in the scholarly communication
process, the conduct of research, and the nature of learning. Academic
computing centres and other information providers threaten the university libraries’
standing if it does not step forward to be a major player in the technology
revolution currently underway. Internet technology is advancing in such a
torrid pace that university administrators may decide that the traditional
library is not even needed anymore. Moreover university libraries are facing a
great deal of competition as other information providers are meeting the needs
of the university community. We observed that many students, researchers and
lectures, hardly use university libraries at all since the internet meets their
needs.
In the recent years, however, the notion of
the university libraries’ control position in university life has been
seriously challenged. A major factor affecting the libraries’ loss of
confidence to see itself as the very “heart of the university” is the emergence
of new information technologies and the internet in particular. The new
environment has complicated the mission of the university libraries as well.
The university libraries are now forced to ask questions like: Where, exactly,
does library fit-in in the university? Can the libraries reclaim its symbolic
central position in the universities and provide needed information for her
users? Can they make differences in the scientific life of researchers, lecturers
and students? Despite these challenges, there are many opportunities for the
resourceful university libraries to gradually change the face of the
universities. University libraries are shifting from custodian to an access
role in a rapidly evolving network society within the universities. Their role,
purpose and means of operation have changed greatly. Technology simplifies the
way people work.
Internet is one of the greatest recent
advancement in world of information technology and has become a useful
instrument that has fostered the process of making the world a global village.
The internet is derived from two words: “international” and “networks”. It can
be defined as an international computer network of information available to the
public through modern links, Bassey [2003]. According to Lagos, [2003], the
internet is worldwide system of linked computer networks. It is a worldwide
system of interconnected computer networks. These networks consist of millions
of private, public, academic, business and government setups that are linked by
a broad array of electronic and optical networking technologies, Wikipedia
(2010). The internet carries a vast range of information resources and services
such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and
the infrastructure to support electronic mail.
All
the communication media in the world today are tailored in line with the
internet through the adaptation of web sites and blogs, including telephone,
television and print media. The internet has provided new forms of human
interaction through instant messaging, internet forum, chats, teleconferencing
and social networking. The complex communication infrastructures of the
internet consist of its hardware components and a system of software layers
that control various aspects of the architecture. While the hardware can often
be used to support software system, it is the design and the rigorous
standardization process of the software architecture that characterizes the
internet and provides the foundation for its success.
The internet has
become an important subject for all information providers such as libraries.
This is because of its relevance and application to tasks in libraries and
information centres. The potential impact of internet on the public demand for
the services and resources of libraries is an issue of critical importance. University
libraries have remained unchallenged until the emergence of internet, as
providers of convenient and comprehensive information to meet a wide range of
the information needs of her users. Libraries have been the sole gatekeeper of
information, Pugh (2000). The fifth law of Ranganathan as cited in Weiner,
[2003] is that the library is a growing organism. Growth, imply change and
libraries are faced not only with an unprecedented rate of change but also
challenges to their existence in contemporary society. The development of
internet during the past decades has had profound impact on society in general
and on libraries in particular. In the context of an increasing competitive
environment, in which libraries are required to manage their resources and
capabilities in a more efficient and effective way, the internet has become an
important tool to accomplish such demands. Considering the specificity of
services provided by libraries, which are mainly based on intangibles like
ideas, and information, attitudes and awareness, the internet is therefore
likely to be better suited to this kind of body than it is to profit firms,
Saxton and Game (2001).
This
technology has evolved process, functions, services, media and information
resources; on the library as a whole, Melchionda (2007). Observation has shown that
any library left behind will lose her users in near future. We equally observe
that fewer people are visiting the libraries than before because what they go
to library for is found elsewhere. University libraries can no longer afford to
be parochial and isolated. They have to change with the society. This has been
recognized for years and the networked world of the information society imposes
per se a new dimension and a new obligation for co-operation. There are virtual library created due to the
advent of this new information technology.
Virtual
libraries are libraries in which the holdings are found in electronic stacks.
They are libraries that exist without any regard to physical space or location.
They are technological way to bring together the resources of various libraries
and information services both internal and external, all in one place ,so that
users can find what they need quickly
and easily. Virtual libraries are product of internet. They are useful
and very diverse in what they contain. The option for what they can contain
include virtually endless and has become more and more boundless as technology
advances. Their advantages includes but not limited to their ability to occupy
small space, enhances search capabilities in digital format, materials are
available at the user’s desktop regardless of where the user is physically
located and eliminates the problem of book missing. Libraries are now
everywhere and any time. Internet has made this possible. Akintunde (2004:10)
summed this up when he stated that:
Library
world since the last decade, have undergone significant metamorphosis from a
purely traditional modeled manual services delivery system to a more dynamic
technological driven system … like a cyclone the technology driven environment
has developed the library and is taking it to unprecedented heights in
knowledge acquisition, management and communication.
The attractive display of materials on
the internet motivates libraries to explore and use it in their daily
activities, a quick look at the content on the world wide web gives a clear
picture of the variety of information resources and communication applications it contain. Those resources and
applications covers millions of multipurpose web sites including images, sounds
and graphs with interfaces which allow users to interact positively with the
contents. In addition it makes access, retrieval and distribution of
information from resources not only possible but also easy for any user
regardless of their locations.
In
spite of the emergence of many forms of innovations for storing and delivering
information in library, the internet has remained the most valuable sources of
information. In fact, “the diffusion of internet adoption in library can be
considered as the most important event of the late 20th century”,
Vadillo, Barcens and Matute (2006). This can be seen from prevalence of using
the internet for different purpose in library such as accessing of information,
cataloguing, circulation purposes and reference purposes. Internet facilities
such as electronic mail (e-mail) can facilitate communication within and outside
the libraries. Some other related
networked applications can simplify flow of information among libraries. Real-time
teleconferencing technologies can support meetings involving individuals or
groups located in different libraries. Internet facilities such as laptops,
desktops allow for distributed management of supply chains, support of human
resource functions and exchange of contact and other library information.
Although the deployment of these systems is still in an early stage in Nigeria
university libraries, internet technologies appear to have enhanced library
performance, costs, and efficiencies.
The
increasing popularity of internet in wide range of different areas of society
has, to some extent, compelled some libraries to adopt it. This practice has
been however differently undertaken by different libraries. While profit making
organization such as business firms and government are in forefront in adopting
the internet, non-profit bodies such as libraries have moved at “a snail’s pace
when adopting such systems in their organizational structures” Akers and
Colemon (1994). This trend is reflected in much of the existing literature
about the adoption of the internet which has been found to be mostly addressed
to profit firms. In fact, scanty literature has been addressed to libraries.
However, it has been recognized that the internet impacts on every non-profit
activity especially libraries notably in raising awareness and influence,
creating an information resources, fundraising and mobilizing libraries to a
specific cause.
Adopting
the leading edge of new technologies offers libraries existing areas in which
to carry library profession to a higher level of achievement and recognition.
New technologies induce profound change in the work place. Some established
methods of internet adoption include:
WI-FI: an acronym for wireless fidelity. The
term WI – FI is a method of connecting a high-speed local area network via
wireless transmitted /receiver. It is convenient for mobile internet users that
can bring service to areas where wiring would be costly. It is used to describe
only narrow range of connectivity technologies. One can connect wi- fi devices
in an ad-hoc mode from client to client without a router. If this is done, it
allows communications directly from one computer to another without the
involvement of an access point. Space where cables cannot be run as outdoor
areas can host wireless LAN. One problem of Wi-Fi technology is that increasing
the number of Wi-Fi access points provides network redundancy.
Another
method is Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)which
is an excellent internet access solution for homes and businesses. It is
affordable and easy to install. It is a way to access internet over ordinary
phone lines at speed up to 8mbps for downloads and 1mbps for uploads. A DSL
modem and Ethernet card is required for installation. A splitter may also be
required. A splitter is a frequency filter that separate high frequencies used
for sending data upstream and receiving downstream data from the low frequency
data used for voice. These high and low frequencies are transmitted at the same
time. A factor that may limit maximum speed is ones physical distance from
telephone company central office. DSL can operate single line without
preventing normal use of the phone line for phone calls. It uses high
frequencies, while the low frequencies of the lines are left free for regular
telephone communication Wikipedia,(2011).
Dial-up is another method that uses a modem
and standard telephone line. It dials into a network through an existing modem.
With dial-up internet, a computer’s modem must manually dial into an internet
service provider (ISP) using phone line to establish
a connection. Each time the modem calls the ISP the computer receives a new and
unique IP address which the ISP uses to
identify a specific computer and allow it to surf the internet. One problem
associated with dial-up is that it slows connection speed, making viewing
videos, playing online games and handling large e-mail attachments difficult.
But the advantages is derive from the fact that it offers more security to
users than broadband as its IP address constantly changes with each new
connection.
The
Cable method of internet access utilizes TV Coaxial cable. The cable modem
device connects just like a television or cable box. Cable can be used for
high-speed internet access. It is “always on”. A cable internet connection is
much faster than any type of dial-up connection. However one disadvantage is
that the more congestion, the more delay, that is, the more the people using
the cable, the slower the service. The cable have low interference comparably
high speed and allow television use, the cost of bringing service into an area
(trenching cable) can be very high Wikipedia, (2011).
Others
include Integrated Services Digital Network ISDN which utilizes existing
telephone line. Broadband internet access is a method t
