Application of Internet Services for Effective Service Delivery in University Libraries in Plateau State, Nigeria

The study investigated the application of Internet services for effective service delivery in university libraries in Plateau State. Three specific objectives with corresponding research questions guided the study. The study adopted a survey research design. The population for the study was the entire 285 library staff made up of professional and nonprofessionals in the university libraries in Plateau State which include: University of Jos and Plateau State University. Since the population was not large, the study made use of all the 285 staff in the universities. The instrument for data collection for this study was a structured questionnaire titled “Internet Services and Library Service Delivery Questionnaire†(ISLSDQ). The questionnaire was validated by experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using Cronbach Alpha method and a reliability coefficient of 0.75 was obtained. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics of Frequency Counts, Percentages, Mean and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions. Findings of the study revealed that, the kinds of internet services applied for effective services delivery in university libraries in Plateau State include: Electronic Mail (email), World Wide Web (www), Internet Chat, Internet Telephone, Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), Electronic Library (e-library), Own Website, Web 2.0, Archie and Mailing list. The areas of application of internet services for effective library service delivery in university libraries in Plateau State include: acquisition services, cataloguing/classification services, awareness services, reference services, selective dissemination of information services, inter-library loan services, documentary services, circulation services, bibliographic services and resource sharing. The findings also revealed that, these internet services were applied to a high extent for library services delivery. The study concluded that, Internet services are to a high extent applied for effective library services delivery in university libraries in Plateau State. Recommendations were made that, Network and related internet services should be provided in university libraries to enhance library services delivery since the need for connectivity can no longer be ignored in this era of information and communication technology and management of university libraries should ensure that adequate hardware support facilities are provided that can enhance effective library services delivery in university libraries