Evaluating the Effectiveness of Information and Communication Technology Applications in Modern Library Management

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has fundamentally reshaped the way libraries acquire, organise, store, retrieve and disseminate information. This paper reports the findings of a quantitative, descriptive survey that examined the role, benefits and challenges of ICT in modern library management from the perspective of 400 library professionals and users drawn from academic, public, school, special and digital libraries. Data were collected through a structured, self-administered questionnaire employing a five-point Likert scale, validated through a pilot study and found reliable with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.88. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) were used to summarise the responses, while regression analysis was used to test five research hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The results show that respondents hold consistently favourable perceptions of ICT tools and technologies, library automation, information access and retrieval, service quality, and the overall benefits of ICT, with section-wise mean scores ranging from 4.00 to 4.12 on the five-point scale. Regression analysis confirmed that all five hypotheses were supported, with ICT-related constructs explaining between 61.0% and 73.5% of the variance in the corresponding library management outcomes. The paper concludes that ICT has become an indispensable component of contemporary library practice and offers strategies for its more effective utilisation, including investment in infrastructure, sustained staff training and collaborative resource sharing.