Librarians' Perception on the Use of Chatbots and Robotic Technology for Service Delivery in Academic Libraries in Rivers State Nigeria.

Modern libraries and information centers contend with increasing numbers of resources and users that are demanding seamless access to efficient services. Hence, it becomes necessary for librarians to resort to the use machine-driven technologies such as chatbots, robots and other computer-powered technologies to support the effort of their workforce. This work therefore, examined the perception of librarians on the use of chatbot and robots for service delivery in academic libraries in Rivers State. Three objectives and research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey design was used in carrying out the study, the study population consisted of all the 70 librarians and library officers drawn from 6 University libraries in Rivers State. An online questionnaire titled “Chatbot and Robots for Library Service Delivery” (CARLSD) was used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation was used for data analysis. Findings of the study revealed that librarians have strong positive perceptions of the use of chatbot and robotic technology in academic libraries in Rivers State with a grand mean of 3.49, indicating perceived usefulness of these technologies for increasing operational efficiency and enhancing service delivery. Also, Librarians perceive chatbot and robotic technology as beneficial for enhancing library service delivery with a grand mean of 3.49, indicating that that these technologies can improve user engagement, provide 24-hour availability of library services among others. Key challenges include lack of technical expertise, high costs of acquisition and maintenance. It was recommended that libraries should adopt chatbot and robotic technologies to complement librarians’ professional services and improve the quality of service delivery. Libraries should organize regular training to enhance librarians’ technical skills for managing chatbot and robotic technologies and that institutions and government bodies should allocate sufficient funding to acquire and maintain these technologies.