Availability and utilization of Information Communication Technology for book production by publishers in Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the Availability of Information Communication  Technology for book production in selected publishing companies in Nigeria. Three objectives, three research questions were tested. Survey research design was adopted for this study. The target population of five hundred and forty-six personnel in the ten publishing companies was used, and purposive sampling technique was adopted for the selection of the sampled publishing companies. The research instrument for this study was a  self-designed questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages for research questions The findings showed that, book production by Nigerian publishers recorded one hundred titles per year as production rate; information communication and  technology facilities for book production were sufficiently available in all the ten publishing companies. Similarly, Nigerian publishers used Information Communication Technology facilities to promote sales, distribution of books locally and internationally. These facilities were also used for editorial  procedures, advertisement, announcement of forthcoming titles and  communication among publishers, authors, booksellers in Nigeria and abroad. The challenges of the publishing companies include insufficient training facilities, lack of trained staff, and high cost of training and unsteady power supply. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that, there should be increase of production rate from one hundred to five hundred titles per year depending on customer’s patronage; training and retraining of staff to keep abreast of technological development in areas of book production and upgrading of ICT facilities to meet current demands in publishing.

Key Words: Availability, Utilization, ICT, Books, Publishers, Nigeria.