Abstract:
Concerns about the accessibility of intellectual communication in higher education have arisen because of academic libraries' struggles with the physical space constraints brought on by an increasing volume of print publications. The integration of Information and Communication Technology solution (ICTS) has changed how traditional library functions, such as acquisitions, cataloguing, and circulation are carried out. Notwithstanding these changes, academic libraries continue to be essential sources of authoritative knowledge. To address the changing needs of information professionals and users, this study looked at the level of ICTS integration in fifteen academic libraries in Nigeria. It specifically focused on the adoption of automation, digitisation, cloud computing, and other online services. It adopted a pragmatic research paradigm, employing a mixed methods research approach, and a convergent parallel mixed methods research design. The study population was 1,500 people selected from fifteen academic libraries in Nigeria. The Krejcie and Morgan formula was used to calculate or determine the sample size of 306 participants, which included postgraduate students, ICT librarians, and general librarians. A probabilistic sampling was used for this purpose. Qualitative data was collected through interviews, observation, and document analysis and was analysed thematically using Atlas 22.1.1 (Web version). Quantitative data, on the other hand were collected using questionnaires and was analysed using descriptive statistics in SPSS version 22. The results showed that most libraries lacked a strong policy to facilitate e-resource use, access, retrieval, and utilisation. Factors attributed to limited ICT integration in academic libraries include funding, improper policy adoption, unskilled information technology personnels, inadequate bandwidth and internet connection. The study recommended the need for quarterly user education programs for library users, the national information and technology development agency (NITDA) most enforce academic institutions to mandate libraries in their domain to implement IT policies, prioritised supply and acquisition of computers and other related devices, the librarian registration council of Nigeria must liaise with donor agencies to ensure e-library standards policies were followed during hardware’s and software’s donation, enhanced infrastructure benchmarks for new libraries, with inclusion of structural design and the recruitment of ITS librarians, having additional skills like programming and artificial intelligent.
