Nexus of Nigerian Academic Libraries and Online Education in the Pandemic Era

Abstract

The study investigated library services rendered by Nigerian university libraries in support of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. To this end, three research questions guided the conduct of the study. The study adopted a descriptive research design for a population of 80 academic librarians in selected university libraries in South-South and South-West geo-political zone of Nigeria. Data were collected using an online questionnaire and a total enumeration sampling technique was used. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics such as frequency count and simple percentage. A total of 100 academic librarians were sent the online questionnaire and 80 librarians responded to the questionnaire given a total response rate of 80%. The findings revealed that vital library services were rendered in support of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. These services include provision of links to other open-source library resources, reference and information services, seamless and organized access to e-resources, creating awareness about emerging technologies for teaching and learning, providing links to access several e-resources directly from the publisher’s websites, information literacy skills, spread news and service alerts, online workshop and tutorials, providing training to lecturers on the use of online platforms for teaching, live chat with the students and conducting orientation for the new students. Furthermore, the study showed that most of the services rendered by academic libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown were rendered occasionally due to the problems faced by libraries in services delivery which includes poor funding, epileptic power supply, lack of adequate support from the government, and inadequate library infrastructure. Thus, the study recommended that the government should have a total commitment to libraries in general by providing adequate funding for infrastructural development, recruitment of competent librarians, and improved welfare packages for effective library service delivery. Therefore, governments at all levels should make library development a top priority.