The Prospects of Internet of Things (IoT) in Some Selected Academic Libraries in South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the prospects of internet of things (IoT) in some selected academic libraries in South, South Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey using questionnaire to collect data. The population of the study consists of 78 librarians which were randomly picked from some selected university libraries in Nigeria. A total of the 78   questionnaires were distributed only 69 were retrieved. Descriptive statistics, (mean and percentage) were used for analysis. A mean score of 2.5 and above and a percentage score of 50% were considered for decision making. The study revealed that the effects of internet of things in the academics’ libraries under study are online education, abundance information, it increases innovations, it enhances creativity, and global connections through virtual communication. The challenges affecting internet of things in academic libraries in South, South Nigeria are loss of personal information, spread of fake news, internet addiction and time wastage, high cost of procurement of equipment and lack of technical knowhow. The study recommends that Academic library management should agitate for the implementation of Internet of Things in their respective libraries, and the campaign on the awareness of Internet of Things in academic libraries through conference/workshops is crucial.