Knowledge sharing practices amongst librarians in selected federal universities in South-Western Nigeria

Bolanle, Akanbi Hawwa

Title: Knowledge sharing practices amongst librarians in selected federal universities in South-Western Nigeria
Creator: Bolanle, Akanbi Hawwa
Subject: Knowledge management
Subject: Academic libraries
Date: 2017-11
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25289
Identifier: vital:64139
Description: This study focused on Knowledge Sharing Practices Amongst Librarians in Selected Federal Universities in South-Western Nigerian. The southwest geopolitical zone chosen for this study is one of the largest geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The zone has six states with six Federal universities. Each of the states in south-west zone in Nigeria has one Federal University. The study was targeted at Librarians in each of the Federal Universities. These Librarians studied were from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile Ife, Federal University of Technology (FUTA) Akure, University of Lagos (UNILAG) Akoka, Federal University of Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) Oye Ekiti, University of Ibadan (UI) Ibadan and Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB). The aforementioned universities are located in Osun State, Ondo State, Lagos State, Ekiti State, and Oyo State, respectively. Specifically, the objectives of this study were to determine the factors that affect the knowledge sharing practices amongst librarians in the south western Federal universities in Nigeria; to find out the perception of librarians on knowledge sharing in the Federal University libraries; to investigate the method of sharing knowledge and the effectiveness of such methods among academic librarians at the selected Universities in Nigeria; as well as to determine the extent to which librarians in Federal Universities encourage information exchange and the use of modern technologies. In order to achieve these, a multistage sampling technique was used. Purposive sampling technique was first used with the criteria that all the universities selected must be owned by Federal government; and only professional librarians in the respective university libraries participated. The Total enumerative technique was also used although not all professional librarians across the six federal universities were reached, owing to few limitations. However, 147 professional librarians across all six federal university libraries in south-western zone, Nigeria were randomly selected and eventually used for the purposes of this study. This study makes use of triangulation for data collection. In other words, the instruments used for all the data collected are Questionnaire, Interview and Focus Group Discussion. This was because the nature of data collected is a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. Questionnaires (147) were administered to librarians in all the federal universities with the aid of research assistants in each of the institution libraries. Descriptive and Inferential Statistics were used to analyse the data gathered with the aid of Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Subsequently, the Interview and Focus Group Discussion were organized after retrieving data gathered through questionnaires. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was used to get some facts in line with the objectives of the study from librarians in the areas of study. This was done with the aid of a tape recorder, which was later transcribed and descriptively analyzed. Data gathered with the aid of interview and FGD were transcribed and interpreted. From all the instruments across the areas of study, it was found that the rate at which knowledge is shared through meetings and workshops is not encouraging as the findings showed that there was a very low response in this regard. The study concluded that there were several factors that affect knowledge sharing practices in the study site. Some of the key factors that influence knowledge sharing practices include: organizational structure, provision of incentives, Managerial practices, improved ICT, social relationship and training. This therefore suggests that organizational structure, provision of incentives, managerial practices, improved ICT, social relationship, training, trust, peer influence and perceived reciprocal benefit have a significant effect on knowledge sharing practices amongst librarians in South-western federal University libraries. It was found that there was a positive and significant effect of organizational structure on knowledge sharing practices amongst librarians. Results of the descriptive statistics on the perception of some librarians showed that librarians understood the concept of knowledge sharing as they agreed that knowledge possessed by an individual should be shared with another individual. In addition, on average, librarians supported the fact that knowledge sharing can bring innovation and creativity to library services. Although the findings were somehow consistent with previous studies, this study noted a number of contradictions and gaps that border on some of these factors. These are mode of sharing knowledge; particularly with respect to the availability of ICT facilities and their usage and the extent to which librarians in the study area share their knowledge which seems to be somehow not encouraging. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Organizational structures within each University library should be friendly and productive. Subsequently, No matter what, more is better than less. Librarians in all the six selected Southwestern university libraries should be motivated by giving them more incentives or rewards (both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards). In other words, there is a need for the management of the respective institutions to introduce additional incentives in order for their staff (librarians) to be fully motivated to increase their impetus to engage more in knowledge sharing practices. Despite the positive perception of librarians in the area of study, they still need to be motivated.
Description: Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2017
Format: computer
Format: online resource
Format: application/pdf
Format: 1 online resource (268 leaves)
Format: pdf
Publisher: University of Fort Hare
Publisher: Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
Language: English
Rights: University of Fort Hare
Rights: All Rights Reserved
Rights: Open Access

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