Digital self-efficacy and skills as correlates of digital reading among library and information science (LIS) postgraduate students in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study explored digital self-efficacy and skills as correlates of digital reading among LIS postgraduate students in Kwara State, Nigeria. Correlational design was adopted. This study has six (6) objectives and two (2) hypotheses. The population of this study are postgraduate students of the three (3) LIS schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. Convenience sampling technique was used to select 54 respondents who filled the questionnaire designed with Google Form and administered to them through their groups’ platforms on WhatsApp messenger. Data collected were analysed with mean (???? ), while the hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Findings revealed that the respondents are very good in operating the digital tools they need to use for reading (???? = 4.78). The respondents also have very good abilities in identifying when they need to find information through digital resources (???? = 4.67). Moreso, the respondents strongly agreed to using smartphones (???? = 4.94) to read for examinations (???? = 4.67), course materials enrichment (???? = 4.56) and research (???? = 4.50). However, low Internet bandwidth (???? = 3.78), cybersecurity threats (???? = 3.50), lack of personal interest (???? = 3.56), fear of coming across offensive content (???? = 3.44) and spending most of their time on social media (???? = 3.28) hindered the respondents’ reading in digital environments. The results of Ho1 (r =0.000 and 0.468**, p > 0.05) revealed that digital self-efficacy has a significant relationship with the respondents’ digital reading, while results of Ho2 (r =0.261 and 0.056, p > 0.05) revealed that digital skills have a partial relationship with the respondents’ digital reading. This study concluded that digital self-efficacy and skills correlate with digital reading among LIS postgraduates in Kwara State, Nigeria. It was recommended that LIS schools, digital development institutions and related agencies in Kwara State should train LIS postgraduate students on cybersecurity.