Assessment of Information Literacy Skills of Librarians in Selected Academic Libraries in South-Western, Nigeria

ONANUGA, A. O., AMUDA, H. O., & ILORI, O. O.

Abstract

The study assessed the information literacy skills of library and information science professionals in Selected Academic Libraries in South-Western, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted and total enumeration was used for the selection of respondents with a minimum of a bachelor degree from eight (8) selected academic libraries. All librarians from the selected libraries constitute the study population while a simple random sampling technique was used to select two hundred (200) librarians from the libraries under study. The questionnaire was the main data collection instrument. Out of the two hundred (200) copies of questionnaires that were administered, only one hundred and seventy-five (175) was found usable and analyzed. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics.     The study revealed that majority (98.1%) of the library and information science professionals acquired their information literacy skills through self-development, training (92.6%) and seminar (62.5%) and use these skills on daily basis. Also, the study shown irregular training (90.5%), inadequate technological facilities (90.8%), poor state of power supply (87.7%), low level of development in the country (86.4%), shortage of manpower (82.1%), low literacy level of people (79.2%), lack of access to the internet (61.7%) as some of the factors affecting the information literacy skills of information professionals. The study concluded that information professionals use these skills mostly on a daily basis despite been negatively affected by some highlighted factors. Therefore, it was recommended that lasting solutions should be provided to the highlighted factors and information literacy should be taught as a course in library school. This is to equip the intending information professionals with the necessary skills to meet the specific information needs of their users and remain relevant in the information profession.