Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
10-19-2012
Document Type
Article
Citation
Okiy (2010) quoting Covi and Cragin, (2004) in their own view opined that Nigerian tertiary institutions have increasingly demanded and preferred access to electronic sources delivery and networked information from their respective libraries. This is why librarians must endeavour to equip themselves with technological skills that will be useful for their jobs. According to Jones-Kavalier, and Flannigan (2006), ironically, while some see the profusion of realities as threatening to us, to our children, and even to democracy, the new media is nothing if not simply another way of viewing our world, of interacting with one another, of opening ourselves to learning in realms of possibility we never conceived of before.
According to Campbell (2006) academic libraries—along with their private and governmental counterparts—have long stood unchallenged throughout the world as the primary providers of recorded knowledge and historical records. Within the context of higher education especially, when users wanted dependable information, they turned to academic libraries. The academic library all over the world have been distinguished as reliable for the provision of current, up-to-date and well rounded information on all subjects.
Campbell (2006) stated that academic libraries today are complex institutions with multiple roles and a host of related operations and services developed over the years. Yet their fundamental purpose has remained the same: to provide access to trustworthy, authoritative knowledge. He opined that today, however, the library is relinquishing its place as the top source of inquiry. The reason that the library is losing its supremacy in carrying out this fundamental role is due, of course, to the impact of digital technology. (Wikipedia, 2012). Information literacy skills have further been broaden to areas of digital literacy, visual literacy, media literacy, computer literacy, library literacy, network literacy, cultural literacy etc. The focus of this research however is digital literacy skills.
Abstract
The information profession, library and information studies have evolved from one that served individual institution to one that serves communities and nations. Academic libraries are libraries in tertiary institutions, meant to serves not just the staff and students within an institution but the communities where they are established as well. It is therefore very expedient that library staff possess the skills with which to serve these users and provide the needed information they desire. Library staff therefore are faced with the challenge of upgrading their skills. The research design used for this study was social survey design and a random sampling was used to collect data from the population of study. The total population of respondents was one hundred and fifty (150) professional and para-professional librarians from Kenneth Dike Library,UniversityofIbadan, Bells University of Technology Library,BabcockUniversitylibrary, Crawford University Library, and Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Library, but the total number of questionnaire returned was ninety six (96). Questionnaire and Observation method was used to get the views from the respondents and they were analyze through the use of frequency distribution, correlation coefficient and standard deviation techniques. Majority of the respondents reported that they were well motivated on their jobs. A total of 46 (47.9%) agreed that they liked working in the library and other colleagues. A total of 54 (56.3%) affirmed that they appreciated their boss and colleagues. On the extent to which digital literacy is utilized for work motivation and career progression of library staff, 31 (32.3%) reported that they have not received training over time while a total of 56 (58.3%) agreed they were satisfied with progress in their career because their boss carries them along and they had an increase on their pay overtime.