Influence of research skills on librarians’ research productivity in Public Universities, North-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Survey research was conducted to determine the influence of research skills on librarian’s research productivity in public universities in North-West Nigeria. The population comprised 373 librarians working in 18 public universities in the zone. Stratified sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 193 from the population. Data was collected with a structured, validated questionnaire. The instrument was pretested among librarians at Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, North-East zone. Cronbach’s alpha reliability was 0.809 for research productivity and 0.908 for research skills. A response rate of 93% was achieved and the data was analysed with Spearman correlation regression. Findings revealed that research productivity (mean 1.81) was low while research skills (mean of 3.06) was high. There was no significant influence of research skills on research productivity. Possibly, other factors than research skills influence the research productivity of librarians in public universities in North-West Nigeria, hence the study recommended the management of universities should motivate librarians towards improving research productivity by recognising and granting incentives to productive librarians.