University Library Websites in Nigeria: An Analysis of Content

The Internet and web technologies created a new and unprecedented environment for governments, businesses, educational institutions, and individuals, enabling them to webcast any information using multimedia tools. University libraries are nowadays using the web environment to provide high quality information for their users, mostly in digital format. The purpose of this study is to investigate the university library websites in Nigeria, to analyse their content so as to ascertain their strength and weaknesses, and to give recommendations.. Ten university libraries with functional websites were randomly selected for the study. Based on previous studies, 43 item checklists were developed and critical extermination of standard library websites was carried out. The checklists were scanned and analysed during various intervals in the month of December 2013; data collected was presented in tabular form using MS Word. The study also established general information about the library, library services and their physical holdings as inadequate. Recommendations made include improvement of librarians’ skills in website development and enhancement of library curriculum in library schools to include website development, among others.