Age and exposure to computers as determinants of attitudes of librarians towards automation in Nigerian universities

Purpose The paper seeks to examine age and exposure to computers as determinants of librarians’ attitudes towards library automation in Nigerian universities. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a survey approach to determine the attitudes of academic librarians in Nigeria. Findings The investigation shows that an overwhelming majority of the librarians registered a high and positive attitude towards library automation. However, the two variables of interest to this study were found not to influence the librarians’ attitudes towards library automation. Also, several university libraries in Nigeria are yet to be automated due to some identified impediments like: financial constraints, shortage of IT personnel, irregular electric power supply, poor communication facilities, and absence of a national policy on information technology. Practical implications Generally librarians, system administrators, university authorities, IT researchers, and the National Universities Commission of Nigeria will find this paper useful. It enlightens them about the librarians’ positive attitudes towards library automation, poor state of automation in the libraries, as well as the lack of relationship between attitude of librarians and the two variables of interest to this study. Originality/value The paper offers new insights in the area of IT use by academic librarians in Nigeria. This study differs from others because it established that, even though the librarians registered a positive attitude towards library automation, their age and exposure to computers do not determine such an attitude.