Evaluation of Librarians Awareness and Uptake of Open Source Library Software in Federal Colleges of Education in North Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

The researcher evaluated librarian’s awareness and uptake of open source library software in Federal Colleges of Education in North-East Nigeria. The study discussed on open source software for libraries. The study investigated on the uptake situation, level of awareness, benefits and problems of open source for library service. The purpose is to recommend the best open source software for the Federal Colleges Library for their uptake operations. Literatures was reviewed which includes the concepts and types of open source software, availability and utilization among others. The study adopted descriptive research design in order to describe the current situation on awareness and uptake of OS library software. The target population was the library staff and probability sampling technique were used to enable every member of the population have equal chance of being chosen for the study. Stratified random sampling was applied to the study. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire and data were presented in a descriptive manner using tables, graphs and charts. A pilot study was conducted in advance to test some part of the instruments in order to ensure that ambiguities are removed from the questionnaire so that respondents would not have difficulties in responding to questions. In order to ensure that the researcher obtains qualitative data from the field, the instrument was pretested with a few individuals before the researcher embarks on data collection exercise to check on their validity. Secondary source of data was also used to validate the data provided. Computer based statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was adopted to analyze the quantitative data.