Scholarly Publications of Librarians in Universities in Nigeria: 2000 2012 -- A Bibliometric Analysis

Authors

Gadanga Aliyu Tsafe Dr, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto-NigeriaFollow
basaka abubakar aminu basaka nil, abubakar tafawa balewa university bauchi
Chiya Usman Mohammed Dr, University of MaiduguriFollow

Date of this Version

Winter 8-30-2016

Abstract

Abstract

This bibliometric study was designed to analyze the scholarly publications of librarians in Universities in Nigeria from 2000-2012. It was guided by six objectives and two null-hypotheses. The study covered 16 Universities located in the seven states of the North -West, Nigeria while the publications analyzed were journal articles, chapters in books, books, conference proceedings etc published by the librarians in the study area. The research design was descriptive survey method using bibliometric technique. One hundred and sixty five (165) librarians was the population purposively taken for the study. Self-designed questionnaire was the only instrument used for data collection. The instrument was administered by the researchers on the respondents. Out of the 165 copies of the instrument administered, 123 were completed and successfully retrieved. Descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages) was used to analyze the data on demographics and to answer the research questions. Inferential statistics (Chi-square(r) and ANOVA) were used to test the two null-hypotheses. Findings revealed that promotion motivated the librarians in the study area to publish. Total publication by the librarians was 373. Individually, majority of them (56.9%) had published at least one article. Male librarians published more (81.2%) than the females (18.8%). High-ranked librarians had more publications (71.7%) than the lower-ranked librarians (9.1%). Journal was the most preferred source for publication (56.1%) by the librarians. The most published area of interest was Information Technology and major constraints were workload, lack of internet access and cost of getting material published. Results of the two null-hypotheses indicated significant difference in Number of publications between male and female librarians and among librarians of various ranks Recommendations made included the need for librarians to publish beyond promotion, the need for the librarians to publish in other outlets than in journals only and the need for the librarians to explore un tapped areas in their future researches.