University of Africa Toru-Orua
Digital Repository
Welcome to the University of Africa Digital Repository, which collects, preserves, and disseminates the University's scholarly outputs.
Faculties in University of Africa Toru-Orua
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- This contains the intellectual works of the faculty members in Agriculture
- This contains the intellectual works of the faculty members in the Arts & Education
- This contains the intellectual works of the faculty members in the Faculty of Basic & Applied Sciences
- This contains the intellectual works of the faculty members in Social & Managment Sciences
Recent Submissions
Practice of Infopreneurship by Librarians in Public University Libraries in South-South Nigeria
(2023) Sawyerr-George, Oyinkepreye E.; Friday, Jerry Eyerinmene
Objective – The aim of this study was to examine the practice of infopreneurship by librarians in
public university libraries in South-South Nigeria. The study specifically intended to identify
purposes of engaging in infopreneurship, methods of running infopreneurship, forms of
infopreneurship practiced, benefits derived from practicing infopreneurship, and challenges
encountered in practicing infopreneurship by the librarians.
Methods – The population of the study comprised all 175 librarians in 13 public university
libraries in South-South Nigeria, which were purposively chosen for the study. The study
employed convenience sampling to engage 102 librarians in the university libraries, who were involved in one form of infopreneurship or another. The librarians were identified through
preliminary investigation, observation, and interaction with the librarians by the researchers. The
instrument for data collection was a self-designed online questionnaire titled, “Librarians’
Infopreneurship Practice Questionnaire (LIPQ).” The instrument was validated by two experts in
the Department of Library and Information Science in Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State,
Nigeria. Reliability test was not conducted on the instrument, based on the knowledge that a
valid test tends to be reliable. The researchers distributed 128 digital copies of the draft of the
validated questionnaire to the librarians through personal WhatsApp accounts of the librarians,
WhatsApp groups of the various university libraries and WhatsApp groups of the different state
chapters of the Nigerian Library Association to which the librarians belonged. Out of the 128
questionnaires administered, 102 were properly completed by the librarians and returned,
producing a response rate of 97.69%. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and
standard deviation.
Results – The results from data analysis revealed that the librarians’ purposes of engaging in
infopreneurship were to earn extra income, provide for post-retirement, meet unforeseen
demands, and develop themselves. The librarians’ methods of running infopreneurship were
leveraging, customizing, facilitating access to, and providing instant delivery of information.
They used the following forms of infopreneurship: information brokerage, reprographic services,
research-aid services, book vending and internet services. Finally, challenges faced by the
librarians in practicing infopreneurship were lack of adequate finance, business infrastructure,
technical skill, and high rate of presence of non-professional infopreneurs.
Conclusion – The findings in this study demonstrate that librarians under study practice
infopreneurship primarily for purposes of making money and self-sustenance. They achieve this
by leveraging, customizing, facilitating access to and providing quick delivery of information.
With these methods, the librarians engage in information brokerage, reprographic services,
internet services, research-aid services and book vending. In return, these information
professionals enjoy additional income, financial independence, accumulated knowledge, and
enhanced sense of fulfillment. However, the practice of infopreneurship by the librarians is
hindered by shortage of sufficient funds, technical know-how, business facilities and high rate of
presence of unprofessional infopreneurs in the business.
Adoption of Electronic Medical Records in Tertiary Health-Care Centers: A Survey of Federal Medical Centers in South-South Nigeria
(2023) Sawyerr-George, Oyinkepreye E.; OyinkeFriday, Jerry Eyerinmene
The study investigated the adoption of electronic
medical records in Federal Medical Centres in Bayelsa and
Delta States of Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey
research design. One hundred and nineteen staff of
Departments of Health Records and Information Management
of both medical centres participated in the study. Online
questionnaire was used for data collection. One hundred and
thirty-four soft copies of the questionnaire were distributed to
the respondents via personal whatsapp accounts of the
respondents and whatsapp platforms of the Health
Information Managers Association of Nigeria and the
Association of Health Records and Information Management
Practitioners of Nigeria to which the respondents belonged.
One hundred and nineteen questionnaires were properly
completed, retrieved and found usable for data analysis. This
produced a response rate of 88.81 %. The data collected were
analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation.
Findings showed that the extent of adoption of electronic
medical records in the medical centres was low; benefits
derived from adoption, which were not perceived much
differently by the sampled staff, were enhanced healthcare
service delivery/access to medical information, saving of
records storage space/cost of medical care, speeding up of
treatment process, improvement of confidentiality/security of
medical information/timely communication among medical
practitioners, reduction of treatment error risk/ patients’
mortality rate/patients’ waiting time and facilitation of clinical
decision making; challenges encountered in adoption, which
were seen much differently by the records personnel, were
poor internet connectivity or network, high cost of ICT
equipment, low technical expertise,
lack of
funds/training/uniform standards and poor power supply.
Job Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of University Graduates of Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States of Nigeria
(2022) Friday, Jerry Eyerinmene; Sawyerr-George, Oyinkepreye E.
The study examined job information needs and seeking behaviour of university graduates of
Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States of Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey research
design. The study population comprised 390, 000 participants in the Nigerian Federal
Government-organised youth empowerment programme, “N-Power Nexit Training”. A sample
of 649 university graduate participants was used. A questionnaire was adopted. The data
collected were analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation. The findings showed that
university graduates highly needed information on job vacancies, entrepreneurial opportunities,
preparation for aptitude test/exam and job interview, resume preparation and time of job
interview/aptitude test/exam; needed information on job location and discipline-related jobs; and
fairly needed information on discipline-unrelated jobs and employer details; their sources of job
information were the Internet, social media, print media, relatives and friends; their methods of
seeking job information were starting, browsing, monitoring and extracting, while their obstacles
in seeking job information were lack of information and communication skills, poor power
supply, ignorance of sources of job information and abundance of inaccurate and unreliable job
information.
SOURCING OPEN ACCESS ELECTRONIC DATABASES FOR SCHOLARLY USE BY LECTURERS IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES
(2024) Sawyerr-George, Oyinkepreye E.; Ogunbodede, Kolawole Francis
Some Nigerian female writers have devoted much time to fictionalising patriarchal society in which men
This study examines the utilization of open access electronic databases by faculty members and
librarians at the University of Africa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Using a descriptive survey design, data
were collected from 50 respondents (40 lecturers and 10 librarians) through a structured
questionnaire, achieving an 85% response rate. The findings reveal a high level of usage of open
access databases for scholarly research, with faculty members identifying significant benefits,
including enhanced access to academic resources, increased research visibility, and support for
teaching activities. However, challenges such as inconsistent power supply, poor internet
connectivity, and limited digital skills were identified as barriers to effective use. In addition, this
study highlights various free electronic databases available for scholarly use, such as the National
Virtual Library of Nigeria (NVLN), Project Gutenberg, and PubMed Central, emphasizing their
importance in providing access to educational materials. The effectiveness of subscription-based
versus open-access databases is discussed, noting that while subscription databases offer curated,
high-quality content, they often face underutilization due to awareness and training gaps. Conversely,
open-access databases democratize access to information but require critical evaluation of their
content quality. To enhance research capabilities in Nigerian universities, a multifaceted approach is
recommended, focusing on awareness and training, infrastructure improvement, collaboration
among institutions, and the establishment of institutional repositories. By addressing these areas,
Nigerian universities can effectively integrate open-access databases into their frameworks,
promoting academic growth and innovation.
Practice of Infopreneurship by Librarians in Public University Libraries in South-South Nigeria
(2023) Jerry Eyerinmene Friday; Sawyerr-George, Oyinkepreye E.
Objective – The aim of this study was to examine the practice of infopreneurship by librarians in
public university libraries in South-South Nigeria. The study specifically intended to identify
purposes of engaging in infopreneurship, methods of running infopreneurship, forms of
infopreneurship practiced, benefits derived from practicing infopreneurship, and challenges
encountered in practicing infopreneurship by the librarians.
Methods – The population of the study comprised all 175 librarians in 13 public university
libraries in South-South Nigeria, which were purposively chosen for the study. The study
employed convenience sampling to engage 102 librarians in the university libraries, who were involved in one form of infopreneurship or another. The librarians were identified through
preliminary investigation, observation, and interaction with the librarians by the researchers. The
instrument for data collection was a self-designed online questionnaire titled, “Librarians’
Infopreneurship Practice Questionnaire (LIPQ).” The instrument was validated by two experts in
the Department of Library and Information Science in Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State,
Nigeria. Reliability test was not conducted on the instrument, based on the knowledge that a
valid test tends to be reliable. The researchers distributed 128 digital copies of the draft of the
validated questionnaire to the librarians through personal WhatsApp accounts of the librarians,
WhatsApp groups of the various university libraries and WhatsApp groups of the different state
chapters of the Nigerian Library Association to which the librarians belonged. Out of the 128
questionnaires administered, 102 were properly completed by the librarians and returned,
producing a response rate of 97.69%. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and
standard deviation.
Results – The results from data analysis revealed that the librarians’ purposes of engaging in
infopreneurship were to earn extra income, provide for post-retirement, meet unforeseen
demands, and develop themselves. The librarians’ methods of running infopreneurship were
leveraging, customizing, facilitating access to, and providing instant delivery of information.
They used the following forms of infopreneurship: information brokerage, reprographic services,
research-aid services, book vending and internet services. Finally, challenges faced by the
librarians in practicing infopreneurship were lack of adequate finance, business infrastructure,
technical skill, and high rate of presence of non-professional infopreneurs.
Conclusion – The findings in this study demonstrate that librarians under study practice
infopreneurship primarily for purposes of making money and self-sustenance. They achieve this
by leveraging, customizing, facilitating access to and providing quick delivery of information.
With these methods, the librarians engage in information brokerage, reprographic services,
internet services, research-aid services and book vending. In return, these information
professionals enjoy additional income, financial independence, accumulated knowledge, and
enhanced sense of fulfillment. However, the practice of infopreneurship by the librarians is
hindered by shortage of sufficient funds, technical know-how, business facilities and high rate of
presence of unprofessional infopreneurs in the business.