Use of Collaborative Technologies for Knowledge Sharing among Academic Librarians in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study investigated the use of collaborative technologies for knowledge sharing among
academic librarians in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Five objectives and research questions were
raised to guide the study. Survey research design was employed. The population for the study was
45 librarians from four academic libraries in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. All the librarians were
sampled using census sampling technique. An instrument titled “Collaborative Technologies and
Knowledge Sharing Questionnaire (CTKS)” was used for the data collection. Professionals in
library and information science validated the instrument. Cronbach Alpha formula was used to
establish the reliability of the instrument. Data were analyzed using frequency and percentages.
The result of the study revealed that email and WhatsApp were highly used by librarians for
knowledge sharing while wiki, webinar and blog were not used for knowledge sharing. The study
concluded that for librarians to effectively adjust to this paradigm shift of information service
delivery, there is the need for collaborative technologies to be utilize in its fullest for knowledge
sharing. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that academic libraries in Akwa
Ibom State should train and retrain librarians on effective use of collaborative technologies for
knowledge sharing.