Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The study examined users’ assessment of digital reference service delivery in private university libraries in Enugu State. The study is guided by four research questions. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of the entire undergraduates of private universities in Enugu State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 500 undergraduates to assess the delivery of digital reference services in their university. Structured questionnaire was used for data collected, while mean and standard deviation was used for analyzing the data collected for the study. The finding revealed that, digital reference service delivery in private universities in Enugu state is still at the basic as only E-Mail Reference Service, with Telephone reference service, Short message service (SMS) reference service, and Voice-call reference service are provided though to a moderate extent. Other digital reference services such as web-form/query form reference service, live-chat reference service, ask-a-service, video-call reference service, social media reference service, reference robot service, and collaborative digital reference service are not provided. The major challenges are erratic power supply, sub-standard telecommunication infrastructures, lack of skills and competences in the use of ICT for reference services, low internet bandwidth, and technophobia. The study recommended that, there is need for private University Libraries to train their staff on digital skills and competences required to deliver effective digital reference services to their users. The private university libraries should employ more qualified staff with digital skills so as to reduce the heavy work load on the staff among others.