SOCIAL MEDIA: ACCESS TO REFERENCE SERVICES BY STUDENTS IN A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

The general purpose of the study was to ascertain the use of social media by students to access reference services at the Federal University of Technology Library, Owerri. The survey research design was used for the study using questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The research adopted both the proportionate/stratified and simple random sampling techniques to investigate a sample of 288 students in Federal University of Technology Library, Owerri. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.87 was used to collect data for the study. Four research questions and one hypothesis were framed for the study. The hypothesis was tested using chi-square (x2) statistical analysis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings show that there are core different types of social media platform in reference services available to the students in Federal University of Technology Library, Owerri; students use social media to retrieve information and conduct research. The hypothesis tested shows that there is no significant difference between the challenges experienced by students in accessing reference services to that encountered by other students in Nigeria university libraries. The study recommends that more contents should be made available on these social media platforms, in order to meet the information needs of the library users. The study also recommend that both the library staff and library users should be made aware of the social media platforms

The Library Services and Users\u27 Satisfaction in Academic Libraries in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract The study focused on library services and users’ satisfaction in academic libraries in Imo State, Nigeria. The study examined the extent of users’ satisfaction with library services in academic libraries in Imo State, Nigeria, the relationship between library exhibition/display and user education services. Three research questions were posed and two hypotheses were formulated for the study. Correlational design was adopted for the study while 4-point likert rating scale was used to elicit data. A sample size of 393 students was drawn from the population of 15,310 using Taro Yammane (1967) sampling technique. The data collected were analyzed with Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significant. The result of the findings showed that; there is low extent of satisfaction with library services by the respondents, there is significant relationship between library exhibition/display services and users’ satisfaction and there is also significant and positive relationship between user education and users’ satisfaction. The study recommends that the library management should embark on feasibility study so as to make sure that the information resources needed by users are acquired as this will increase users\u27 satisfaction and the provision of user-oriented service should be encourage so as to enhance users\u27 satisfaction and patronage of libraries