Impact of gender responsiveness on the use of digital library in Nigerian Higher Institutions

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of gender responsiveness on the use of digital library in Nigerian higher institutions using Imo State University, Owerri (IMSU) as the area of study. The population of the study consists of all the 392 students of IMSU who were found reading in the school library and head-counted as at 2:00pm on 5th March, 2018. It is a census study hence no sampling. This study was guided by three research questions that were answered using the frequency and percentage statistical technique. The instrument for data collection was a research-made questionnaire in a 4-point likert scale which was adequately validated by three experts in the relevant fields. Test-retest was used to ascertain the reliability of the instrument at a co-efficient value of 0.82. The study revealed that students used the digital library for downloading materials for assignment, project and other research works but they were mostly hindered from using the library by irregular power supply, poor searching skills. Based on these findings, the research recommended among other things that the institutions should try to make power supply to be regular and also engage in training the library staff for effective service delivery in the digital library.

Keywords: Gender, Gender, Responsiveness, Digital, Library.