Digital Reference Services, Library Marketing and Library Patronage of Undergraduates Student in Private Universities, Oyo State, Nigeria

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Date

2024-12

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Publisher

Lead City University, Ibadan

Abstract

Library patronage by undergraduates is an important aspect of academic libraries, as it reflects the level of satisfaction and engagement of the students with the library resources and services. However, effective patronage by students may not be possible without the availability of digital reference services that meet users expectations and the marketing of library services for users’ awareness. This study, therefore, investigated the influence of digital reference service and library marketing on library patronage among undergraduate students in private universities in Oyo State. The study adopted a survey research design with a population of 12,169 undergraduates from six private universities in Oyo State. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 360 undergraduates for the study. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection, while descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The findings revealed a high level of library patronage among undergraduate students in private universities, with different strategies to market their services to the user community. Results from the hypotheses showed that digital reference service (ß=0.231, t=4.274, p<0.05) and library marketing (ß=0.187, t=3.422, p<0.05) respectively influence library patronage among undergraduate students. It was also found that both digital reference service (ß=0.318, t=5.315, p<0.05) and library marketing (ß=0.191, t=3.197, p<0.05) had a joint influence on library patronage among undergraduates in private universities in Oyo State. The study concluded that the level of students’ patronage was attributed to their expectations of the library services to meet their changing needs, the as well as the satisfaction experienced from using the library. The study, therefore, recommended that library management should adopt marketing more vigorously to promote the services and activities of the library to the user community from time to time, and also introduce more innovative services that can attract the users to the library in this digital age. Keywords: University Libraries, Library Marketing, Digital Reference Service, Library Patronage, Undergraduate students

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Keywords

University Libraries, Library Marketing, Digital Reference Service, Library Patronage, Undergraduate students

Citation

Kate Turabia