THE USES OF INTERNET FACILITIES BY LIBRARIANS IN JOHN HARRIS LIBRARY

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the use of the internet facilities by librarians in John Harris, University of Benin. Related literatures of eminent scholars’ views on the study were reviewed. A descriptive survey was employed to carry out the study. The population of this study comprised of all the staff of John Harris Library University of Benin. Four hundred (400) respondents were sampled for this study. To ensure a representative sample for this study, sampling was done using the simple random sampling technique. The research instrument employed for this study was a self-structured questionnaire that sought information from the respondents from respondents. The reliability of the research instrument was ascertained using test-retest reliability technique. The reliability of the retrieved instrument was ascertained using Cronbach Correlation Coefficient method. A reliability coefficient score of 0.76 was obtained. Data was collected from the respondents and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency count and simple percentages. Findings revealed That the internet resources are most commonly used by librarians include cataloguing, dissemination of information (SDI) service, provision of Ebook, E-magazines and E-journals and online reservation and renewal, reader and reference assistance. That the librarians’ level of online proficiency is low due to vast knowledge they have about computer. that there are many reasons that librarians utilize the internet such current and updated information, more effective in their services delivery, closer to library users and so on. That there are some factors that discourage librarians from using internet such as high cost of maintenance, attitude of fear, lack of skill personnel to train librarians and many more. That there are possible solutions to internet challenges such as allocation of more fund, employment of skilled personnel, organization of seminars and trainings and many more. Based on the findings revealed above, the following recommendations were made: The manual system of library operation in the John Harris should be replace with ICT based library operation system. All the library staff should be ICT compliance by having a high proficiency in the use of ICT. Funds should be made available to the university libraries to enable them acquired some modern facilities. Finally, the John Harris library should acquire relevant ICT facilities to enhance the management of their holdings and many more.