Organizational variables as predictors of implementation of digital reference services in university libraries in North-East, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the extent to which organizational factors predict implementation of digital reference services in federal university libraries in North-East, Nigeria. Eight research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was correlational, and the area of the study was North-Eastern Nigeria. The population of the study was 201 comprising of the entire professional (102) and paraprofessional (99) staff of the federal university libraries in the North-East, Nigeria. The study used a structured questionnaire for the respondents, oral interview for the university librarians and observation checklist for data collection. The instruments were face validated by three specialists, and Cronbach’s alpha was used to obtain the reliability of the instrument which an overall score of 0.94, indicating that the instrument had internal consistency. The Hypotheses were tested using ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that leadership style, management of staff, fund management and infrastructural provision significantly predicted implementation of digital reference services in federal university libraries in North-East, Nigeria. It was recommended that library managers in the region should come up with policies to ensure that effective implementation of digital references services.