Skills and Competencies of Librarians in the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in Public Libraries in South West Nigeria

The study was conducted to examine skills and competencies of librarians in the use of information communication technologies (ICT) in public libraries in We South West, Nigeria.The study was based on a questionnaire survey of librarians in three (3) public libraries in Lagos, Oyo and Ogun State in Nigeria.The study had three (3) objectives which are, to find out the skills that librarians possess in the discharge of their duties, to examine the level of competency of librarians in handling ICTs and to investigate the factors that hinder the effective use of ICTs by librarians.The target population of the study was librarians in Oyo State Library Board (OYSLB), Simeon Adebo Library, Ogun State (SAL) and Lagos State Library Board (IOSL).A total population (census) was considered in the study.A structured questionnaire was used for data collection and data was analyzed using simple tables and percentages.Findings from the study revealed that the ICT skills librarians possess include: the use of internet, the use of social media, word processing; the use of Microsoft Excel, the use of e-mail; knowledge of computer hardware, the use of smartphones; the use of PowerPoint, the use of Open Access Catalogue (OPAC) and other databases.Findings also showed that librarians had the required, competency in the use of most of the ICT facilities mentioned However it was discovered that some of the factors that hindered the effective use of ICTs include inadequate funding, lack of technical skills, absence of training, erratic power supply and inadequate: ICT infrastructure Recommendations were made on how to tackle the problems that were identified.