International Journal of Academic Library and Information Science

Vol. 9(1), pp. 62-72. January, 2021. 

ISSN: 2360-7858

DOI: 10.14662/IJALIS2021.190

 

Full Length Research

 

Health Information Accessibility through the Lens of Portable Technologies: Experience of Librarians in Osun State, Nigeria

 

1Oladapo, Yemisi Oluremi, 2Jacok Kehinde Opele, 3Moses Oladele Adeoye and 4Babawale Blessing Amusan

 

1LAUTECH Medical Library, Ogbomosho, Oyo State. E-mail: yooladepo@lautech.edu.ng

2Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Education, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria Corresponding author’s E-mail: Jacob.opele@fuoye.edu.ng :

3LAUTECH Medical Library, Ogbomosho, Oyo State. E-mail: moadeoye@lautech.edu.ng

4Department of Library and Information Science, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State. E-mail: Blessingamusan@gmail.com

 

Accepted 18 January 2021

Abstract

Objectives: This is an exploratory study that focused on identifying the contemporary health related information needs of librarians in Osun State; types of mobile technology used for accessing health related information as well as identifying challenges experienced in using mobile technology for accessing health related information. Methodology: This is a descriptive survey study of 133 Librarians in Osun State, Nigeria. Total enumeration of all the population was adopted. From the total 133 questionnaires that were administered, 126 (representing 94.74%) were duly completed and used for analysis. Frequency counts and percentage calculation were used to analyse the quantitative data, while thematic description was used in analyzing the qualitative data collected. Findings: The study discovered that information on COVID-19 (77.8%); nutrition (66.7%); and physical fitness (66.7%) were the most sought information by the respondents. Majority (94.4%) of the respondents accessed health-related information using their smartphones. Also, the majority of the respondents mostly seek for health related information through Whatsapp (83.3%) and Facebook (61.1%). Poor internet service and difficulty in trusting the credibility of the online sources (83.3% each) were the two major barriers faced by the librarians in using mobile technology for accessing health related information. Recommendations: Librarians need to explore other electronic health information sources rather than concentrating on social media; there is the need for increased knowledge of librarians on online information searching strategies and also, there is need for improved internet services provision by the operators. Originality: This study identified contemporary health related information needs of librarians in Osun State, Nigeria and electronic information sources frequently used and preferred. These findings will be instrumental in meeting the health information needs of the librarians by the concerned and relevant stakeholders. This study is also an additional contribution to existing literature in the area of health related information seeking among librarians. .

 

Key word: Mobile technologies, health-related information, librarians, COVID-1

Cite This Article As: Yakubu, AS., Ibrahim, FL., Yahaya, A (2021). Data Security Factors Influencing the Adoption of Cloud Computing Services by Two Selected Nigerian Academic Libraries. Inter. J. Acad. Lib. Info. Sci. 9(1): 31-40