Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Resources and Job Effectiveness among Library Staff in the (original) (raw)

This study investigated utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources and job effectiveness among library staff in the University of Calabar and Cross River University of Technology, Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of this study, four hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. A sample of two hundred and twenty five (225) respondents was randomly selected for the study. The selection was done through the stratified random sampling technique. The questionnaire was the main instruments used for data collection. The reliability estimate of the instruments was established through the test-retest reliability method. Pearson product moment correlation analysis was employed to test the hypotheses under study. Each hypothesis was tested at .05 level of significance. The results of the analysis revealed that, staff use of internet, use of e-mail, use of PowerPoint and use of computer significantly related with library staff job effectiveness. Based on the findings, it was recommended that library managers should organized workshop to educate library staff on the use of ICT 1.1INTRODUCTION library is public institution or an establishment charged with the care of collection of information resources and the staff has a duty of making them accessible to those who require them Libraries provide resources for knowledge acquisition, recreation, personal interests and inter-personal relationships for all categories of users. In an academic library, attention is focused not only on students and researchers but also on the library staff who continue to strive to collect, store, organize and disseminate all forms of recorded knowledge in order to satisfy both present and future information needs of users. Library staff needs various kinds of information for their work for the purposes of impacting knowledge to the students and self-development. To achieve this, the right information must be utilized at the right time in its appropriate format. In each library there are facilities that can contribute in no small measure to work effectiveness of a librarian. Job effectiveness of a librarian could be seen through staff knowledge of subject matter, skill proficiency and resourcefulness. For a librarian to be effective the staff must have utlize necessary information materials and resources. They have to interact with tangible and intangible resources and institutions to ensure some levels of performance. Roberson (2005) defines a library as an institution that manages the intellectual products that individual can gain access to readily. Iyanda and Salawu (2006) on the other hand sees library as an instructional and self-development centre, which operate as an integral part of the entire school environment. Popoola and Haliso (2009) define library information resources as those information bearing materials. That are in both printed and electronic formats. Such as textbooks, journals, indexes, abstracts, newspapers and magazines, reports, CD-ROM databases, internet/E-mail, video tapes/cassettes, diskettes magnetic disk, computers, micro forms These are the resources in the library make services possible. The electronic resources may require special equipment to operate needing expertise in ICT. Thus the functional inadequacies exhibited by library staff in the area of ICT use could limit their job effectiveness. Also, the inability of some library staff to persist when faced with ICT challenges may be attributed to low pattern of self-efficacy. This also suggests that such library staff is most likely to be less effective at their work and such could also limit their work productivity. Library staff knowledge of subject matter, skill proficiency and resourcefulness could be linked to job effectiveness. In other words, one of the requirements for job effectiveness could be improved knowledge of subject matter acquired through use of ICT resources and services. Variables and indicators of utilization of ICT could be used to assess the job effectiveness with which library staff perform their job functions, much in the same way as the quality of their research functions is usually assessed by the quality of research activities and publications?