Digital tools for the support of digital scholarship in Kashim Ibrahim Library, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

This article assessed the digital tools available in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) division in Kashim Ibrahim Library (KIL), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) that can help support digital scholarship. Two research questions were raised to guide the research;  i) What are the digital tools available for the support of Digital Scholarship in KIL, ABU, Zaria, Nigeria? ii) What challenges are  encountered by the librarians in the use of these digital tools for the support of digital scholarship in KIL, ABU, Zaria, Nigeria? Quantitative method was adopted using the descriptive survey research design. 27 librarians in the ICT division, served as the target  population and questionnaire as instrument for data collection was administered. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics  analysis; measures of frequency. The findings show that Institutional repository is the digital tool with the highest frequency and  inadequate training on digital scholarship as the major challenge. It concludes and recommends that though there are some digital tools  available, they are not adequate to fully support digital scholarship within the University community, therefore the University library  Management should endeavor to make available the digital tools that are necessary for the support of digital scholarship by directly  purchasing, upgrading or by giving the ICT unit, monetary allocations to handle accordingly and also encourage the librarians involved in  digital services by funding both external and in house trainings on digital scholarship.