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
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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.
