TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover Page                     –           –           –           –           –           –           i

Title Page     –           –           –           –           –           –           –           ii

Approval Page        –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           iii

Certification Page            –           –           –           –           –           –           iv

Dedication        –           –           –           –           –           –           –           v

Acknowledgements    –    –           –           –           –           –           –           vi

Table of Contents             –           –           –           –           –           –           vii

List of Tables           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           x

Abstract             –           –           –           –           –           –           xi

Chapter One: Introduction  –            –           –           –           –           –           1

Background to the Study          –           –           –           –           –           –           1

Statement of the Problem      –           –           –           –           –           –           9

Purpose of the Study               –           –           –           –           –           11

Research Questions           –           –           –           –           –           –           11

Significance of the Study            –           –           –           –           –           12

Scope of the Study                –           –           –           –           –           –           13

Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature             –           –           –           14

Conceptual Framework     –           –           –           –           –           –           14

Overview of the University Libraries, Software Generally and Library Oriented Software package(s)           –           –           –           –           –           14       

Availability of Library Software package(s)        –           –           –           –           17

Selection Methods of Library Software package(s)    –           –           23

Selection processes of Library Software package(s)            –           27

Problems of Library Software Selection Practices             –           32

Strategies for Enhancing the Library Software Selection Practices      36

Review of Related Empirical Studies  –                –           –           40      

Summary of the Review        –           –           –           –           44

Chapter Three: Research Method                    –           –           –           –           45

Design of the Study         –           –           –           –           –           –           45

Area of the Study             –           –           –           –           –           –           45

Population of the Study               –           –           –           –           –           46

Sample and Sampling Technique         –           –           –           –           –           46

Instrument for Data Collection                      –           –           –           47

Validation of the Instrument               –           –           –           –           –           48

Method of Data Collection       –           –           –           –           –           48

Method of Data Analysis      –           –           –           –           –           48

Chapter Four: Presentation and Analysis of Data    –           –           –           50

Research Question One     –           –           –           –           –           50

Research Question Two    –           –           –           –           –           52

Research Question Three   –           –           –           –           –           54

Research Question Four             –           –           –           –           –           56

Research Question Five         –           –           –           –           –           –           57

Summary of the Major Findings              –           –           –           –           –           58

Chapter Five: Discussion, Recommendation and conclusion   –           59

Discussion of Findings        –           –           –           –           –           –           59

Implications of Findings  –           –           –           –           –           –           61

Recommendations   –           –           –           –           –           –           –           63

Suggestions for Further Studies           –           –           –           –           –           63

Limitations of the Study                 –           –           –           –           –           64

Conclusion             –           –           –           –           –           –           65

References     –           –           –           –           –           –           –           66

Appendix A:   Population of the Study       –           –           –           –           72

Appendix B:   Sampled Population    –           –           –           –           –           72   Appendix C:     Data Collection Instruments   –    –           –           –           73

Appendix D:   Instrument Validation          –           –           –           –           80

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1A:   Availability of Library Software (Observation Checklist)

Table 1B:   Availability of Library Software (Questionnaire)           

Table 2:     Methods of Software Selection Practices in the Libraries           

Table 3:     Effectiveness of Software Selection Processes of the Libraries

Table 4:     Problems of Software Selection Practices in the Libraries

Table 5:     Strategies for Enhancing the Software Selection Practices of the Libraries

ABSTRACT

The study examined the software selection practices of two federal university libraries in south east Nigeria. Specifically, five purposes and research questions guided the study. It was a descriptive survey study that used disproportionate stratified random sampling technique to select eighty (80) samples out of two hundred and forty seven (247) library staff. The study used structured questionnaire and observation checklist as the instrument for data collection. Eighty (80) copies of questionnaire were distributed to the respondents and seventy two (72) of them returned. This represented a return rate of ninety percent (90%). The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency tables, simple percentages and mean scores. And the decision rule for research question one items was based on fifty percent (50%) benchmark for either availability or non-availability percentage values while that of research question two to five was based on whether the item’s value for mean score was equal to or above the criterion mean for acceptance or otherwise rejected. In addition, the findings of the study revealed that: eight library software packages as Tin-lib, X-lib, Lib-plus, GLAS, Resource-mate, Koha (open source), Alice for WINDOWS and Greenstone are available in the libraries; selection practice methods such as quantitative, intuitive, decision analysis, political, technological and experiences from seminar approaches were employed in the selection practices of the libraries; and selection practices processes such as criterion dependent, library requirement dependent, technological advancement dependent, library development and growth dependent, software evolutionary trends dependent, and among others were effective in the selection practices of their libraries. It further revealed that: problems as financial barriers (funding), insufficient infrastructure, political barriers, inadequate planning and communication, among others affected their software selection processes and strategies like adequate funding, planning and communication as well as involvement of top management, use of reliable data, consultation with previous users, adherence to selection criteria, and among others were appropriate for enhancing their software selection practices. With respect to the above findings, the study recommended the selection of software package(s) that will sustain the operations and services of the libraries and the adoption of methods and processes most appropriate for the libraries.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study:

            In an attempt to acquire all the relevant resources as well as the unalloyed services necessary for sustaining the teaching, learning, research and public services of the host university; a library is established. This is why Madu (2004) opines that “the academic health, intellectual vitality, vibrancy and effectiveness of any university depend largely upon the state of health, performance and excellence of their libraries”. Generally, libraries irrespective of types are meant to select, order, acquire, process/organize, store and disseminate relevant information resources to their clientele. Specifically, libraries in institution of higher learning (universities, polytechnics and colleges) that are organized to meet the information needs of the student, staff and school/faculty are referred to as academic libraries (Trustees’ Glossary, 2004). In Nigeria, the existence of such libraries dates back to the establishment of Yaba College of Technology in 1934 and University College Ibadan in 1948. Since then, it has become a tradition that every institution of higher learning must have her own library which must support the teaching, learning and research processes of such institution.

            Consequently, university libraries in particular are established by universities. It gears towards the facilitation of learning, teaching and research activities of the academic community. Hence, university libraries as part of the university support the curriculum and research needs of student, staff and faculty of the university (Online Library Learning Glossary, 2006). In lieu of this, university libraries are indeed the most important organ in the university system. Thus, the establishment of libraries in the universities becomes inevitable as notwithstanding the support for conventional generic functions (teaching, learning and public services) the university libraries perform the following added functions as: pursuit, promotion and dissemination of knowledge, manpower development, provision of social economic modernization, provision of intra and intercontinental international understanding as well as provision of intellectual leadership. In the light of the foregoing, the prime functions of the university libraries include the following:

provision of material for undergraduate instruction, term papers, and project as well as complementary reading; provision of material in support for postgraduate research;

provision of expensive standard work especially in the specialized discipline; provision of material support for faculty and collaborated research; provision of material for personal self development; provision of special information on the region within which the university is located; co-operation with other academic libraries with a view to developing a network of academic libraries resources that is at the disposal of all scholars (Ifidion and Okoli, 2002: 24).

Consequently, with knowledge and or information explosion, the management of information in academic libraries and indeed university libraries becomes a challenge. This is primarily due to some inherent shortcomings that are associated with manual operations in our university libraries. Such shortcomings are: inaccuracy, limited access to information, retrospective conversion of records, slow pace of operation and breakdown of service delivery. It is against this background that the use of computers (an electronic device that accepts raw data or information as input, and through an encoded set of instruction (program); processes it (the raw data or information) to generate a meaningful and an accurate result (Obeta, 2007)) and its associated technologies in our university libraries and indeed libraries in general becomes imperative. Obeta further emphasized that computers as a system that works together for information processing are composed of three major components. Such components are:

Hardware: consisting of the physical and tangible components that make up the computer system as the input, output, and processing units as well as the backing storage.

Software: comprising of programs or set of instructions which computers will follow to perform its task, examples are the system software as operating system, language translators, utility programs and device drivers and the application software as word processing program, Statistical Programs for Social Sciences (SPSS), database programs, desktop publishing programs, library packages, e.t.c.

Livesware or humanware: consisting of varying professionals in the computing industries as system operators, system analyst, programmers, Database Managers (DMs), system engineers, hackers, e.t.c p.15.

But for the purpose of this research work, the interest is on computer software. Shameen (2006) defined it as; “instructions (programs) that when executed provides desired features, functions and performances” or “data structures that enables the programs to adequately manipulate information” or “documents that describe the operation and use of the programs”. As was stated earlier software are composed of two major categories, namely:

system software: These are software designed to operate the computer hardware and provide the platform for running the application software……; and the application software: which are generalized set of programs designed to enable computers to be used for a particular application or task…. (Ralph, et al., 2003: 65)

Notably, the growth in the use of these applications software or software packages in every areas of human endeavour are alarming. This is because they have some characteristics that sustain their usage. Such characteristics are; they are developed not manufactured, they do not “ware out” but deteriorates with changes and that most of them are custom built.

As a result of this, companies, institutions, co-operate organizations, and government agencies, ministries and parastatals rely heavenly on the use of software driven interconnected compute