Information & Communication Technology Skills and Service Quality of Librarians in Agricultural Research Institutes, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

.

Abstract

Like every other library, research libraries in Agriculture institutes are service rendering organizations with the sole aim of satisfying the researchers’ information need through quality services. User’s satisfaction is key to the usage of library and it resources. Like 
every other service rendering organizations, regular evaluation from user’s perspective is inevitable especially in the face of obstructive nature of the technological innovation which has kept librarian on their toes thereby leaving them with no option but to be equipped with necessary Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills for optimum and overall quality service. This study aimed at finding out influence of ICT skills of librarians on the quality of service rendered in Agriculture research institute, Ibadan, Oyo State. It’s a descriptive study, which make use of mixed method. The population comprises of 101 librarians and 24 researchers. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire and a focus group discussion. The empirical data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, the hypothesis were tested using simple linear regression. The study found discrepancies in both librarians and researchers’ response as regards service quality, Inadequacies of information resources was also found. The test of hypothesis revealed that ICT skills ((Adj.R2=0.205,F(1,79)=20.328, p=000)) have significant influence on service quality. The study recommends regular training and retraining in ICT by librarians.