Assessment of Digital Literacy Skills Among Library Users in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions: A Secondary Data Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59890/ijir.v3i12.115Keywords:
Digital Literacy, Academic Libraries, Tertiary Education, Nigeria, Secondary Data Analysis, Digital Divide, Information Literacy, Sociotechnical SystemsAbstract
The pervasive integration of digital technologies within higher education has fundamentally reconfigured the landscape of academic library services and user expectations. This study conducts a systematic secondary data analysis to critically assess the level, nature, and structural gaps in digital literacy skills among university, polytechnic, and college of education library users in Nigeria. Interrogating data synthesized from published empirical studies, national ICT reports, and institutional surveys from 2015 to 2024, the analysis is framed within a critical sociotechnical perspective that situates skill deficits within broader systemic inequities. Findings reveal a fragmented and often superficial digital skillset among a significant proportion of users. The analysis identifies significant disparities across institutional types and geographical zones, with polytechnics and colleges of education, as well as institutions in northern regions, often reporting more acute challenges. These skill gaps are not merely individual shortcomings but are deeply entangled with systemic factors: unreliable bandwidth, inadequate access to functional hardware, a scarcity of targeted library-led instruction programs, and curricula that rarely integrate digital literacy meaningfully. It posits that a transformative approach is required, one that shifts from ad-hoc digital training to the embedding of digital literacies as a core academic practice. The study concludes with a framework for action, advocating for the development of context-sensitive, tiered digital literacy models, sustained advocacy for robust digital infrastructure, and the formal recognition of digital literacy as a key graduate attribute within Nigerian tertiary education policy. This research contributes to ongoing scholarly debates on digital equity in Global South higher education and provides evidence to inform strategic planning for library services and educational policy in Nigeria
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Copyright (c) 2025 Uwaechina Chinwe Grace, Nwankwo Ndidi Grace, Oberhiri-Orumah Godwin
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