Availability and use of public secondary school libraries in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

The study examined the availability and use of school library facilities and information resources by public secondary schools students in Minna, Niger State. Questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection and simple percentage distribution was used to analyze the data collected. The study showed that facilities such as tables (59.25%), book shelves (70.33%) were adequate but catalogue and computers had high percentage of inadequacy (75.99% and 70.23% respectively). The study also revealed that library resources which include dictionaries,  handbooks, manuals (65.88%) and textbooks (51.74%) were use to read in preparation for examination (80.3%). The study  recommended that school management should improve library facilities and resources, acquire more computers and employed trained librarian to manage the library and a mechanism to enforce the policy that requires each school should have a standard library

DETERMINANT FACTORS FOR THE EVALUATION OF LIBRARY WEBSITE CREDIBILITY BY THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN KWARA STATE UNIVERSITY, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

This study investigated determinant factors for the evaluation of library website credibility by the undergraduate students in Kwara State University, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted and a sample of 378students were selected across the faculties that make up of Kwara State University by using multi-stage sampling technique (Stratified and Simple Random Sampling Technique). A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect data from 378 respondents, out of which 358 copies of the questionnaire were returned and completely filled. Frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze the data collected for the five research questions while T-test was used to test the null hypothesis of the study. The study found that the author and the information on the library websites is accurate and credible; and the accessibility speed of the library website is low. Majority of the respondents also claimed that the information on Kwara State University library website is current; and the respondents rarely use the library website while poor internet network; epileptic power supply; lack of consistency in the layout of the website; and lack of online help are some of the challenges that undergraduate students encountered while using library website. The result also showed that there is a significant difference in the use of library website between male and female undergraduate students. The study recommends that good internet facilities, generator or solar inverter should be provided for effective use of library website

DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN NIGERIA: ROLES OF LIBRARIES AND OTHER INFORMATION SERVICE PROVIDING INSTITUTIONS

Social exclusion is more or less a deliberate act of negligence, wherefore group of people in society are disengaged from mainstream culture because of their background, geographical location and other demographical characteristics that demarcate them from others. Social exclusion is an omnibus term, which encompasses many multidimensional social variables such as inequalities of opportunity, lack of access to basic amenities, digital divide and many more. However, for the sake of this current study, emphasis would be on digital divide existing between urban and rural settlers, in respect of their accessibility to information in today digital age. This study is a literature review that sought to enumerate the roles of information providing institutions in curbing and integrating the digital divides. Observation from the literature underscored poor information infrastructure in the rural area as the major causes of the digital divide between them and the urban area. Another impediment was because the vast majority of rural settlers are low-income earner and most are not literate, therefore, they are poverty driven and access to internet connectivity become luxury rather than a necessity of life. The aforementioned impediments necessitate the need for information providing institutions such as the libraries, information centers, archival institutions, museums, and others to shift focus from just being a knowledge storehouse to more of a learning center for information literacy

DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN NIGERIA: ROLES OF LIBRARIES AND OTHER INFORMATION SERVICE PROVIDING INSTITUTIONS

Social exclusion is more or less a deliberate act of negligence, wherefore group of people in society are disengaged from mainstream culture because of their background, geographical location and other demographical characteristics that demarcate them from others. Social exclusion is an omnibus term, which encompasses many multidimensional social variables such as inequalities of opportunity, lack of access to basic amenities, digital divide and many more. However, for the sake of this current study, emphasis would be on digital divide existing between urban and rural settlers, in respect of their accessibility to information in today digital age. This study is a literature review that sought to enumerate the roles of information providing institutions in curbing and integrating the digital divides. Observation from the literature underscored poor information infrastructure in the rural area as the major causes of the digital divide between them and the urban area. Another impediment was because the vast majority of rural settlers are low-income earner and most are not literate, therefore, they are poverty driven and access to internet connectivity become luxury rather than a necessity of life. The aforementioned impediments necessitate the need for information providing institutions such as the libraries, information centers, archival institutions, museums, and others to shift focus from just being a knowledge storehouse to more of a learning center for information literacy