Open source software use characteristics Among library personnel in southwest,Nigerian universities

Abstract

The study investigated utilization of open source library software among personnel in universities in Southwest region of Nigeria and adopted descriptive research design with a population of 731 library personnel from 49 universities. Purposive sampling was adopted to select 33 university libraries using at least one of the identified open source library software and total enumeration of 666 personnel from these libraries made the study respondents. A self-designed, self-reporting and validated questionnaire (α = 0.99) was used as data collection instrument while questionnaire was administered for a period of 8 weeks. 615 questionnaires administered, 549 returned and 527 useful were analyzed with SPSS using descriptive statistics. Result review that 79.3% of respondents used Koha and the software is frequently use for cataloguing & classification, access web OPAC and register patrons. With x̅ ₁= 3.18 and x̅ ₂= 3.15, the respondents moderately utilize the software while the major challenges primarily revolve around training and technical expertise. The study recommended that libraries should develop strategies to address training gaps of library personnel among others.